God's not done yet!

God's not done yet...

p.s. I think I am just rambling......

Has this ever happened to you?  I am listening to the message today at church(a church I am visiting while looking for my forever church) and I begin thinking this is a message just for me.  All of the sudden I hear the points and realize my points and the Pastors points don't match up.  

I am hearing something totally different, I am taken back to a moment in time that interacts differently than what is being said.  Without even realizing it, I have read on further in the Bible.  I have remembered a time when bones was a word spoken to me from the Lord and I am stunned to find myself deep in thought about it.  

The verse is 2 Chronicles 34:5 "Then he burned the bones of the priest on their altars, and purged Judah and Jerusalem.  

It was a spiritual cleansing.  He also tore down the altars and idols and beat everything to dust.  Pretty dramatic don't you think?  The King Josiah(really still a boy) had discovered the God of his ancestors (King David) and he was moved.  He took action.  He burned the bones.  The dry dead bones, he created a graveyard of the old ways.  Did the bones burn quickly?  Was it a pleasant aroma to the Lord?  

Years ago, after a particularly troubling season, a season that I felt we were being unduly attacked.  Now, I have to stop right heare and explain a few things.  1.  When I say us, I am refering to my ex and I who were at the time pastoring.  2.  My ex had a major heart condition that had almost cost him his life.  3.  There had been allegations swirling around him from different directions.  4.  I was convinced by the ex that it was all just an attack.  5.  I later found out the ugly truth of his ongoing affairs with and without the church.  You really have to know the back story to understand the impact of these words.

So let me start again.   I had received a word from the Lord that all of our flesh would be ripped away.  That our bones would be left scavenged and white.  This did not sound fun at all.  I remember weeping at my ex's feet and saying a terrible pain was coming but it would cleanse us of the flesh that keeps us from being all that God has called us to be.   His response was to say it was a good thing that was going to happen.  I believed him, until my son died.  I believed him until I found out about his multiple affairs and the terrible damage to the women within the body of Christ he had done.  I believed him until the day I didn't.  Once that happened, I just survived.  I spent years in a grave yard of memories and regret and I kind of forgot about it.  I spent years just surviving all the pain.  

Fast forward and six years have gone by and I realize what it is to feel naked and lost.  To feel you have nothing to cover your shame.  To feel like you have been stripped to the point of not recognizing yourself anymore.  I know I sound dramatic but try to imagine the upheaval I have gone through.  I lost a son, a marriage, a community that I loved and I moved away to Texas.  I held tightly to my faith, kept trying to be strong and one day I just gave up.  Not on God, not even on myself but just gave up on trying so hard to figure it out.

Slowly, my flesh had been torn off, picked off by scavengers, burned away by disappointment, dried out by a lack of love.  Lack of love for myself.  Now I am on the cusp of the scripture that says dry bones come alive again (Ezekiel 3).  I am getting better each day, true love, faith and friends.  Slowly restoration, rebuilding and realigning are happening in my heart, in my faith and in my life.  

Portrait of a Narcissist

Portrait of a Narcissist

We all wonder how anyone can be involved with a narcissist?  We all think we are smarter than that.  We think our intuition is spot on, but keep your guard up we are all at risk.  Don't ignore the warning signs. Once a liar, always a liar.  

Trust God, trust the signs and for God's sake trust your gut.  My faith was rocked, I can't lie but slowly my faith has been restored.  

My ex once said....

I will never talk to her again.  We have babies, please don't ruin our family.

He then left his family in a car while he called her from a pay phone to arrange a meeting.  Turns out over 24 years of marriage she says they saw each other at the very least twice a year. 

My ex once said.....

I wasn't looking at her that way, I was just being kind.  

My son then brought it up at the dinner table and my ex said, don't be silly I am just her Pastor. 

He slept with many women that he "pastored".

My ex once said....

You are so suspicious, you must not trust God. (Spiritual blackmail)

He was banned from my hair salon for making a pass at the masseuse.

My ex once said....

I just like Subway.

Accusations were made because his car was so often in front of a "massage parlor".

My ex once said....

This is how everyone does business.

He was almost thrown in jail for not paying payroll taxes and spending money from peoples 401k withholdings. 

My ex once said.....

He was just joking, just using truck stop humor with the women.  It didn't mean anything. 

In the end there were too many inappropriate, fishing comments to count. 

My ex once said....

He couldn't talk very much while he was at his Pastors Conference.

He had taken another woman to the conference and therefor he did very little at the actual conference.

My ex once said....

The porn on his computer was not his, but my son Justin's. 

Turns out it was the woman he took to the pastors conference sending him porn videos of herself. 

My ex once said....

Your son is just trying to hurt you, I have not had an affair.

He had an affair and it had gotten to my son through a hair dresser at a ice cream store.  

My ex once said....

He was not manufacturing drugs at his business.

The accusation did not seem believable at the time.  Now, who can know?

My ex once said....

I can raise the money, and then he charismatically did.  I was frowned upon for not having the faith to believe.  

Turns out he jumped in and bought a facility that tons of work and was not approved by the city.  That eventually catches up with you....or with your congregation.

My ex once said...

I disrespected him.  

I stood up against him and tried to warn others and they said I was lacking faith and being disrespectful to my husband. 

My ex once said....Okay maybe a million times.

I was crazy.

It worked for a long time, I believed I was crazy jealous looking for things that I was apparently making up in my head.  I doubted myself and my sanity.  

Then God woke me up and told me to walk into his study and there he was talking to another conquest. 

Everything suddenly fell in place.  All of my suspicions were correct.  Turns out he was/is the crazy one.  Pathological liar and narcissist. 

My ex once said....

She is just a single mother that he was helping out.

He later told me that she began coming to the church because he was seeing her, and she was the "one" that he really could have left me for. 

My ex once said....

Yes, I was flirty but I never slept with anyone.  I swear it. I need you to stand by me and support me.  This is just an attack from the enemy.  

Then he admitted to at least 7 sexual affairs.

My ex once said....

Churches did this all the time.

Then I realized it was illegal to run money through the church for personal gain.  I took over the books. 

My ex once said...

He meant to send the sexual picture to me.

Funny, how he sent it to someone else first. 

My ex once said...

I was very critical and negative.

This was when the scales began falling off and I was confronting him about his lies. 

My ex once said....

I was the love of his life.

Myself and many others apparently. 

My ex once said...

Even though we are not together I will always take care of you. 

Funny.

My ex once said...

He wanted to die because all of his preaching had been removed from online.  This was the most upset I had ever seen him.

My ex once said....

None of what happened was my fault.  I was a wonderful wife and partner he was just broken. 

To this day he still lies and explains to others that I made him feel like he wasn't enough and that the accusations were not true they were just misunderstandings.  

My ex once said....

You can chose alimony or I will help pay for our sons college. 

I chose my son. He didn't pay his part. 

My ex once said....

He loved me and wanted me back.

He got married a year later. 

My ex once said....You loved our life but didn't like me.

Turns out he was right.  I don't like him at all.  

The truth is ugly sometimes

The Truth is Ugly Sometimes


It's been a minute since I blogged and I have changed.  I have changed and yet I am the same.  I see the past differently now.  I was in survival mode.  Here is the Readers Digest version.  In the last seven years, one of my sons was shot, one of my sons overdosed on heroin and my Pastor/ex husband confessed to having at least 6 affairs (in my count there are many more), I lost my son, church family, husband and job all within roughly a year and half.    During the last 5 years I have been a caregiver (short stints) for my stepmother who passed away from cancer three years ago and my Step Dad (alzheimers/Lewy Bodies Dementia).  I hate the word step, sounds so cheap and does not represent the depth of love I had for each of them, they  had each been in my life for close to forty years.  I have been gently pulling away the layers for the last five years.  Pushing through the trauma and trying to recover.  Leaning on my faith and at the same time at war with it.  I have been healing little by little but still have so far to go.  I could just ignore it, stuff it, stay busy and think I have overcome.  I could say all the right spiritual things, all the right counseling things, it comes very naturally to me but that would be inauthentic.  The truth is that I am still really messed up, still angry, still confused and still shocked.  Yes, all this time and I am still shocked.

So that is the short version of my trauma story, but today I want to write about the reality of my life.  The shocking truth I am beginning to see about me, myself and I. 

Let me preface this by saying, I am not a victim.  I don't want pity.  I want awareness and the ability to communicate my struggle in a vulnerable authentic way that can help others navigate through their pain.  I will not let this pain be wasted, I am a student of it and want to be a master of the pain not the other way around.  I just feel that maybe, hopefully my honesty can somehow redeem my pain so that it gives hope to others. 

That pain still cycles around in my head even though I thought I was over it.  Even though I know it was the best thing for me, I am left with questions and doubt.  How could I have not seen what was happening?  When is it right to stop believing the best?  What did I do to my children by living in this house built of lies.  My unforgiveness ravages my heart,  it is rarely directed outward but always inward.  My brain loops through all the signs I missed, all the comments and accusations.  It rest miserably on comments from my oldest boy who literally told me what a horrible person my ex was.  I chose to believe the ex over my child.  My Justin, who told me that my husband, his stepfather was a cheater and a liar.  He told me and I believed he was just a jealous teenager.  It caused a rift, that I never had the opportunity to repair. 
It is the greatest regret of my life. 

So now I am coming a bit out of the trauma fog, feelings and memories are stronger and memories string themselves together and begin to make sense to me.  That is the hard part, the sudden revelations of betrayal.  Betrayal of myself with my ignorant Pollyanna view.  Betrayal of myself when doubt and confusion rang out and I allowed myself to be gas-lighted, convinced that I was the crazy one.  I was the nonspiritual one.  Let that sink in....the wife that was believing the best and living in hope while the ex was leading a church and preying on it's vulnerable women.  That is what happens, he chose me because I was vulnerable and weak.  I idolized him and that fed his ego but I grew stronger as I grew in the Lord.  I learned about idols and traded my worship of him in for worshiping God.  He wanted a partner that would make him look good but not excel past him or call him on his sin.  As time went by I didn't need him enough, I didn't idolize him enough so he had to find other vulnerable women that he could try to rescue and therefore feed his ego.  It is so easy to see now.  The pattern, the pushing away and pulling me back. The years of deception, he claimed he didn't cheat for two years when my children were babies.

I was immersed in a pattern of lies and doubt for twenty three years.  You don't just shake that off.  I was a strong faith driven woman and yet this man had the ability to trap me with his lies and convince me that there was nothing going on.  I loved the Lord, gave of myself to the ministry and yet still was blinded to the truth.  How odd it seems to me that I could have lived in the light of Jesus and still been in the dark of deception.  Where was God my defender?  Is it that somehow all of this is making me a better person?  I wish that I could see behind the curtain, that I could understand why?  I want to scream sometimes just as Jesus did, "My God, why have you forsaken me?"

I know all the right things...There is no scripture to share with me that I haven't thought of.  Yet, the thorn in my flesh bleeds daily.  The pain sits quietly in the background.  The disappointment cloaks my mind in doubt of the creators love.  I do the right things and I say the right things but my heart is armored up and locked down.  I am unsure if I can ever love fully again, ever trust again.  I live in a low level panic of "when is the next shoe going to drop".  When will the rug be pulled out from under me.

Don't get me wrong, I love big when I feel safe.  I have made new friends, new relationships and I love them.  However, feeling safe is not easy anymore.  Feeling safe is work, it is tedious and exhausting because the reality is that we are never safe.  All I can do is trust God and that does not come that easily, when it comes to my heart.  I know perfect love cast out fear But I can't seem to figure out how to cast it out.  I want the Lord to cast it out, I want the Lord to untangle the web of memories, emotions, soul damage and unhealthy thought patterns.   I really do,  but the grip I have is so tight I don't seem to be capable of letting go. I am trapped in this dark, angry place and it is ugly, my anger is ugly and I am scared.

I wrote the above part almost three months ago.  I had to quit because it lead me into a deep dark place.  A desert place in my faith where I wandered for far too long.  That desert place that I honestly had never felt before.  I felt disconnected from my God, I felt that he had left me.  My faith was challenged and my heart was hard.  The darkness fell as hopelessness over my mind.  The battle in my mind raged and my identity was challenged.  I was deeply depressed, overcome with fear and doubt about everything in my life, including God.  It was perhaps one of the toughest mind places I have ever been, I was tormenting myself with circular thinking and fearful thoughts.  Punishing myself for being depressed, which is not at all helpful.  As always the darkness eventually gave way to light.

Who am I now? That is the question to ask when you find your way out of the desert place.  For so long I knew exactly who I was, but that had all been stripped away.  The tattered pieces of that life were no longer surrounding me and I found myself at a loss.  A great grieving came over me for the life that I had lost.  Why did it come so long after I left, I am not sure.  Maybe it was because so much was suddenly changing around me.  I suppose that could have been the trigger.  It also could have been the fact that Covid 19 halted my busy life and all I had for a while were my thoughts.  My mind fed on memories and the defeat of it all.  The darkness clouded out the love of God, the feelings of injustice raged in my heart and I forgot who I was.  I was not a Pastor's wife, that had never been who I was.  That had been my job, and I loved it.  Being a Pastor and a Pastor's wife was a honor for me but it was not who I was. 

I was a woman who loved God and loved others, I am a woman who loves God and others.  This darkness, this desert place did not kill me or convince me to give up on God instead what the enemy meant for my destruction became a springboard for me to level up in my relationship with God.  To once again feel the gratitude that God loves me no matter my attitude or awful anger towards Him.  My identity is solid, unchanging, beautiful and glorious for it is not me but Christ who lives in me. 


Whatever the cause, it has passed.  I did what I have always told others to do.  I reached out to others for help, I got counseling and I prayed.  I prayed authentic awful truth to my God who gently applied the balm of Gilead to my wounds.  I fell once again in love with Jesus as I realized He had not deserted me to the darkness, He had been teaching me in that darkness that being away from Him was intolerable.  He was showing me my own darkness and allowing me to feel how wretched my heart had gotten.  Yet, he was also revealing to me that even the ugliest thoughts,feelings, emotions and actions I had where not enough to drive Him away. 
I sit here weeping as I write, remembering how I first fell in love with Jesus and realizing I am once again in that place of awe and revelation. 
Nothing I can do will change who I am in Christ, my religion and judgement didn't help the cause of Christ it restrained it.  This new place is a continuing place on my journey to total freedom.  Not token freedom but true freedom.

This is a new place for me, that is true but I know exactly who I am.  I am excited about this new season, filled with hope for what's to come.  I have been through hell and I have come out different but I believe with all my heart I have come out more like Jesus,  though to the outer world it may not look like their definition or expectation.  In my heart I know it is true,  I can see Him laughing at me and calling me into deeper waters to ride waves of joy and laughter and in my heart I run to swim with him because once again I trust Him.  My judgement of myself is over, grace is my choice.  The old ways of rules and earning  love, they have passed away and I am once again a new creation.  I pray I can stay in this sweet spot, this love fest with the Lord for a long time.  However, I also know hard things come but I have learned how to walk through the desert I will not set up camp there again.  I pray to continue living and moving from glory to glory with less and less entanglement of this world.  Love myself and love others, that is my goal and in Christ I can do that.  Honestly that is enough.  I hope this fills your heart and can help guide you through a desert time to a higher level of grace and freedom.  For there is not freedom without grace.  

With much hope and love,

Debbie

Creating a new way!!

It's a funny thing, coming out of a life and creating a new one.  Of course when you walk through tragedy your life is forced to change.  The last few years have been intense change.  I am seeing myself from a new perspective, I look at my past as if I stand outside of it.  I suppose I do.  Like the rings of a tree I am developing and each ring looks somewhat different.  I am still that same tree yet this ring is far different from what I used to be.  The past was not bad and it has led me to this current season but the present is unfolding like the universe.  Showing me more than I can even absorb at times.  Truly seeing myself without all the bullshit that I have developed over the years to make me likeable, to hide my hurts, to hide my shame, to guard my heart and to be what others wanted in me.

This new me is focused on wellness, finding a path of holiness that is gentle and patient.  Letting go of religious beliefs and just focusing on God and the example of Jesus.  Seeking a path of self awareness and peace that I have never found in my life before.

Breaking off the old patterns and thoughts is hard work, I slip easily back into my natural thought patterns of chaos, defensiveness and self loathing.  However day by day I manage to find myself more, and in doing so I love myself more.  I am changing and some would say it is a bunch of "mumbo jumbo" and that's okay, I say it is an enlightenment of deeper understanding of faith and the healing power of belief to heal my mind, body and soul.  It doesn't mean I have it all together, in fact I am often overwhelmed as I try to grasp hold of change.  Just as often I am often happily surprised at how much peace I can feel about my life, my trust that all things are working together for the good.  I still battle fear and body image issues but somehow it is different, I have never been in this place before.  I have lost everything and survived and somehow that changes fear, you always know you will survive and even thrive.  I am still healing, I am still growing and I am still changing.  I hope I always change.

Change is the one thing we can count on in our lives, everything can change around us or we can choose to be the change within ourselves and in the world.  We can embrace change within and without.  I was never very adaptable but life has a way of changing that about us, if we let it.  I am adaptable now, a free spirit that can go with the flow.  Who knew that was possible?

Inside at my core I am still just me.  Same personality traits, same quirky personality, but I am trying new  things and more adventurous than ever.  I don't judge things as "unchristian".  I don't judge myself harshly.  I contemplate things, I think of what I know about Jesus, I think of what the Bible says about renewing our minds, believing the best and being healed and restored.  This is all right on track with yoga, mindfulness and meditation.  I dream of truly understanding the power of our minds as created by God.  I love others as an act of loving myself not as an act of earning love in return. 

I am trying to love myself well.  I used to think that was a ridiculous statement.  That we are all lovers of self, and I don't let myself go hungry after all.  On further thought what I recognized is that I have made choices that were starving my soul, not in my best interest at all.  I have learned to recognize there is a big difference in a survival mode self love and true self love that is driven by faith.  Self love should guide my decisions, challenge me and often brings me to tears as I recognize my betrayal of myself.  Self love is very integrated with my faith, and therefore faith factors into my decisions but not as rules but rather as relationship.   I have this guiding sense of love from the creator, if he can love me than surely I can love myself, and make the best decisions possible for myself in the light of grace.

It's not perfect, as a matter of fact sometimes I really "F" it up.  I still have some melt down moments.  However, I speak up about my emotions, apologize freely and ask for what I need rather than hope for it.  I pay attention to my triggers and try to dig into them to become free.  It is hard work.  Exhausting on some days but I believe it is necessary. I believe we can all grow and change and that is a scriptural principle.

If you have read this far, you must be interested so these are the goals I have added into my life.
Mindfulness practices:  Mindful eating when possible, practicing gratitude more, being self aware, listening to my inner dialogue and seeking to change it.  Intention, intention and more intention.
Yoga:  Finding peace and restoration through gentle restorative yoga.  I haven't moved to any hard stuff yet as I am still trying to hold onto my breath and just feeling my body without intrusive thoughts.
Writing:  As a form of self expression but also as a way to honor my story and keep my promises to myself.
Art:  Painting with passion.  I love teaching and it involves passion but often I am painting out of pleasing others such as commission work.  Developing mindful art journaling practices and teaching them to others.  Using art as a tool to help others feeds my soul.
Independence:  I am learning how to be interdependent while maintaining my autonomy.  Seeking to be interdependent(not dependent) with those I love and developing healthy boundaries.  If you know me well, you know this is not my strong suit.  I spent a lifetime being codependent and over invested in others.
Love:  Focusing on self love and grace.  I am intentionally feasting on love offered to me and the love of the creator.  Loving myself well on a daily basis actually includes all the items above as well.

This is all I can think of for now, but soon you will see some more changes in me and in this blog.  I hope you can embrace them, I hope they shed some type of light on your journey.  I hope they bring freedom and at the same time I hope you just DO YOU.  You are a beautiful soul, loved by the creator and are on your own very unique journey.  Pick up a little inspiration here (hopefully) but find your own way to strengthening and healing your body, soul and mind.

I can't thank you enough for reading this and joining me on this journey.  It's a new day.  Let's make it the best we can.

With much love and hope,
Debbie

Crushing the Christian life(confessions of a recovering ex-pastor's wife)

Rest and Relaxation with No Expectations

I was really doing great, crushing the so-called Christian life.  
Working it from every angle as if it was some beauty contest to win.  I didn't know it.  I couldn't see how deeply the river of earning approval ran in my heart.  I thought I was living in grace, I taught all about grace but I was living in an never ending race of good works.  Doing everything I could to prove that I was worthy.  Teaching and preaching was something I loved but it was tainted with this need to prove myself.

The gifts were real, I am gifted to teach, it is my sweet spot but slowly it became my grace killer.  
This is how it goes...the slippery slope from gifting and grace to religion and rules.
I had to win the approval of others, my preaching had to be the best.  If I am being honest it was not just so that the message would be powerful but rather so that I could prove I was worthy.  Grace was edged out by my old approval junkie heart.  It was disguised well, in  a very spiritual covering but below the surface my issues where lurking.  Ministry can do that, cover your issues in spiritual clothes.  It is a major pitfall for people in ministry, a hiding place for approval junkies, a sweet spot for narcissists, an all consuming job, a rule based prison, a pharisee creating whirlwind, not for everyone but it was for me.  I had won the prize.  This approval junkie had married a narcissist, become a work-a-holic, living in a rule based prison and looking quite a bit like a Pharisee.

It was like stepping from one unhealthy version of myself  into a duplicate unhealthy Christian version of myself.  There was no intent for this to happen obviously.  Rather a slow steady shift away from the goodness of God to the goodness of works.  Again, let me say not everyone in ministry struggles this way.   Many people in ministry started out healthy and whole and are careful to stay that way.  I thought I was, but looking back I see that I still had so far to go.  Pride is like that.  Convinces you that you are all better because you are doing good things, then slips deception on you and off you go.  Same issues, different circumstances.  I deceived myself into believing I could finally know love by working as hard as possible at it.   Turns out that is  not love at all, it is deception. 

So crushing the Christian life turned out to be crushing to my soul.  
I am not trying to be dramatic but imagine a new believer with approval issues groomed by her new husband who is also her pastor to believe that she should follow all the rules, raise her family as the Bible teaches, help build the kingdom, honor her husband, ignore her intuition, be at everything, preach, teach, be beautiful, dress correctly, behave correctly, make everyone like you, etc. etc.  In theory that doesn't sound that terrible but for me it was like drinking poison.   The more I drank, the sicker I got.  My whirlwind pace was masked as spirituality, when truly I just had no boundaries.  The behind the scenes secrets of ministry, the need for approval and the gnawing intuition of knowing things just weren't right drove me at times to madness and other times it drove me to the feet of the creator.  Unfortunately my skewed version of Christianity made it only possible for me to see the feet of Jesus.  It was there that I would experience His love but rarely could I climb into His lap, I could only bring myself to grovel at His feet.  My doubts and failures made it impossible to believe in His unfailing love.  I knew the theology of grace with certainty in my brain, preached it with conviction but I couldn't seem live in it for very long.  If that makes any sense?

I was ruthless with myself and my Christianity.  
I had a broken belief system that God was a hard task master and if I did everything right He would love me and my life would be great.  Therefore, I hated myself when I failed to meet these standards.  Treating myself as a failure and repeating horrid sound tracks over and over in my head.  Brutally crucifying myself for my short comings, wildly defensive about my weaknesses and struggling and striving all the while to be a good Christian.  Strict standards can make us unbearable towards others sins.  If I have to work this hard, you have to work this hard too.  The road to being religious is paved with good intentions and bad belief systems.

Please hear me, there were great highs, wonderful moments, God inspired experiences, exceptional people but I was still the little girl trying to please everyone and make everyone happy.  The fact that it was tainted with my sinful heart issues doesn't mean that it doesn't count.  I grew, I learned and I loved.  It just wasn't healthy for me.  I was in an endless cycle of trying desperately to hold onto everything, to be the best, all the while believing I was trusting and letting go.  While my then-husband was spinning plates as fast as he could trying to keep appearances up, I was working myself to the bone.  I was caught in a cycle of self hatred, doubt, fear, earning, striving and still failing.  Then the house of cards finally came crashing down, it was far worse than I had imagined.  I was never going to win, it had only been a matter of time before it unraveled.   It was exhausting and unnecessary.  Not to mention that winning isn't what God is after at all.

Life lived in the fish bowl is difficult for the healthy but for the broken it can be excruciating.
I will never know what the future would have been if I would have left the ministry and my then husband sooner.  I did the best I could with who I was at the time.  I know I cannot be the only pastor's wife that felt such pain, emptiness, fear and frustration.  The inability to please everyone,  to make a church successful, to be good enough in the endless spiritual comparathon is a trick to keep us from the fullness of life.  In the midst of the fishbowl you are trying so hard to find freedom, to be yourself but let's face it, you are still stuck in a fishbowl how much freedom can you really have?

When I walked away I took a few friendships, knowledge, experience and good memories but along the way I lost myself, a son and my family. 
This isn't what the Lord had asked of me.   I know there is fruit for all of us, I know my children reaped fruit and love from our experience but they also reaped pain.  Mind numbing betrayals that are hard to recover from.  It is the reality of living in a f*cked up world and trust me when I say, the church is just as f*cked up as the world.  It is a house for the broken that can often get so turned upside down that it becomes a weapon instead of an instrument of love.  We were just broken, every last one of us, just in different ways.   I have heard it said that you attract what you are.  Eventually there was no denying the unhealthiness of it all.  Thank God, it brought a necessary ending that hopefully freed us all to experience God in a different way, in deeper truth.  There is nothing I can do about the past but embrace it as part of the journey to bring me here, to this place of grace.  My heart has expanded during this season of revelation, of seeing things with new eyes. Perhaps every last ounce of pain is necessary for people like me to really change.

God didn't create me to strive and earn other people's approval or even His. 
 I was created to be true to how he designed me, not anyone Else's expectations.  He loves me, right now and right here in this very messy place of grace and relationship.  Not that I am done.  It is difficult of course even now not to want to be liked...who doesn't want to be liked?  I recognize it when it crosses over into determination, an unhealthy demanding desire within my soul.  "I will make you love me", was a mantra I have heard in my head over and over throughout my life time.  No longer.  I will make no one like or love me, they either do or they don't.  Period.  I will continue to grow and change but the essence of who I am will remain.

I am experiencing grace in new ways, authentic ways. 
Recognizing my worthiness based not on any of my works but on who He is.  I am a degenerate sinner.  My life is wildly imperfect and I am okay with that.  I am not crushing the Christian life, as a matter of fact I have kind of opted out of that life and now just live a spiritual life.   I have lost my drive to do anything other than love.  I am kind to myself, I work at loving and accepting my imperfect self, I have low expectations on myself and others, I sit in the place of grace and I rest. Did you know the only place the bible talks about striving is to rest?   I cannot earn anything because it is a free gift.  I suppose I could end up in the lesser positions of heaven if you subscribe to that theology, I don't.  My theology is so simple now, isn't that what Jesus exampled to us.  A very simple message of love.

Today I prefer to sit with the broken, speak of love and find rest in the gracious act of unraveling my messy heart.  
I used to think loving yourself was a sin, I now understand loving yourself is a spiritual act of redemption.  It is what empowers you to love others.  When you are kind to yourself you will be kind to others, when you don't judge yourself harshly, you won't judge others harshly.   I share my heart, love others and am constantly finding new paths into relationship with my creator.  In this place there are no rules only relationship.  Yes, I believe in the Bible but I also believe in the power of love to lead you.  It is a gentle unfolding, centering experience and I love it.  Sometimes I over think it, I begin to strive and then I am reminded that I get to choose and I choose rest, peace, love and acceptance.  I am not perfect, I mess up.  I see new things within me that are holding  me back and I keep striving for growth, for deeper spiritual understanding of my own heart. Everything else will fall in place, transition or stay the same.  Anyway it goes, I will be okay.
Set yourself free from striving. 
I hope you can hear my heart and understand that I write this because I want other people to find freedom from the constraints of what so easily entangles us.  Those things that can seem righteous and good on the surface but in reality are just spiritual window dressing allowing us to stay somewhat stuck in old patterns.    Let's learn to love ourselves, leave judgment behind, grow with open minds rather than stifling rules, live in relationship with our creator in whatever way is healthy and balanced for us.  Let's stop the spiritual comparathon, that is just pharisee behavior.  We can find our freedom, learn from our past while leaning towards the future with hope.  It is brighter than we can imagine when we step out from under the "heavy taskmaster" theology.  Thanks for reading sweet friends, may we all find our way daily towards more and more freedom and light.
We live in hope,
Debbie

Presence

These are my recent angels; one who helps me to blast off, one who brings the promise of the new hope and one who reminds me to look up.  

Thinking about presence

Thinking this morning about Presence.  How easily I forget that God is with us, and that He manifest His beauty and wisdom throughout my "day to day" living.  He is the unseen that is all around us.  The wind that blows gentle and strong.  The storm that rolls in and the sun that shines.  

As I looked at the sky dotted with clouds this morning, I was reminded of how much I love clouds.  I love that they paint a new picture in the sky every day.   I am grateful that I often see something in them that no one else does, it is like a secret between God and I.  I love that as they float by they reflect the sun with white brilliance and as the sun sets they create a glorious reflection of a creative God.  I love that sometimes I get a gift, a glimpse of heaven through the clouds, a sense of something so amazing that it washes my mind clean and restores hope. 

I encounter my creator every day through angels among us.  No, I don’t mean that I see angels but I do see people that are wearing Jesus.  To me they have wings.  These people often help lead the way.  The hope that is generated from a smile, a kind word or a simple nod.  The person that puts my groceries in the car and seems to say something mindlessly that actually has deep meaning to me.  The wildly open heart I encounter that shares their pain as an offering.  The brutal truth brought forth out of a loving heart.  The belief in my vision shared by others.  The stories shared that I find life lessons in.  These are the moments where His presence is shared with me through others. 

One of the ways presence is defined is:    a person or thing that exists or is present in a place but is not seen.  I live daily in the unseen presence of my God.  I do not strive for it, it just is.  Do you know that the only thing the Bible speaks about striving for is rest?  I am learning to let go of the striving. 

As I contemplate presence I can't help but think about my presence.  Do I mirror the creator?  Am I fully present with others, do I fully engage?  Do I listen to every word, every emotion and every nuance so that I can truly hear them?  Am I patient and loving in the midst of their failures?  Is my heart turned to those whom I love with passion and intention.  I have no little if any power to change lives, what power I have is to be present and reflect the love of my father.  Sometimes I do it well and sometimes I don't.  I am, as always a work in progress.  

So today I contemplate presence and the freedom I have found to enjoy presence with no rules or expectation but just acceptance.  It’s true, I see Him differently than you.  I experience Him unique to my needs every day.  Some days I pay close attention and sometimes I don’t.  On the days I forget, I forgive myself because He already has. 

Today I am paying attention, today I am remembering how His presence has lead me even when I was unaware, even in rebellion, even in the winds of adversity.  He does not remove His presence, He is faithful.  I can see him in the clouds and I can see him in you, I feel him in the embrace of a hug and I experience him as I create.  There is no end to His presence, it is always there.  It is I who forgets.  

Today I remember, He is with me and maybe just maybe I will reflect His presence to those I encounter.  How about you? 

With much love,

Debbie (your misfit friend)

Happy No Fear, New Year!

Hello lovelies,

I wrote this several years ago in a very dark time.  This new year I feel different, excited but I know many are still struggling.   So this is just a reminder as you step into this new year....You are doing great, you are brave, so be kind to yourself this year it will get better.  Keep doing the hard things.  The darkness always subsides, light always wins.  Love you --Debbie

Sometimes

Sometimes courage is simply getting out of bed. 

Sometimes faith is simply putting one foot in front of the other. 

Sometimes hope is simply knowing it will get better. 

Sometimes the best you can do is praise Him in an empty room, reading from a book.

Sometimes that is good enough.

Happy no fear, new year!

My Justin: Boy Wonder and Snake Charmer

I have refined the poetry just a bit.

My Justin:  Boy Wonder and Snake Charmer

If you have a child who struggles wtih addiction or mental illness, if you have lost a child to addiction  or mental illness, you will recognize the swirl of love and pain that is introduced through cycles of abuse. I am sharing this for you.  That you will know that all your feelings are normal, that the anger you cannot shed is normal, that you can at once be angry with your child and yet never let go of the love you feel for them.  That you can dislike their behavior and weep bitterly over their decisions.  That is a part of your love for them and your hope for them.   It simply means you are sitting in the pain of their consequences and their decisions, are a betrayal of the hope you hold for them.  Whatever the range of emotions, there is no shame in them.  Love hurts when you have an addicted or mentally ill child.  
I will forever believe my Justin was bi-polar and self medicating, unfortunaltely we were not able to see that in the middle of the storm nor was it as openly addressed as it is now.  Thank God that now many children like my Justin, will be able to receive the care they need.   I am grateful as I watch the narrative of mental illness and addiction change and the stigma and shame beginning to be removed.

I have never shared this because I felt such shame at the depth of diappointment and anger displayed in it.  I felt as though I was betraying his memory in some way or even that it showed too much of my pain.  The thought of sharing it made me feel deeply vulnerable to judgement.  I, like so many of us who have children struggling, was reticent to share my pain out of fear that others would not understand it. That others would offer opinions of what I should have done, could have done, what they would have done, etc.  This side of the story was isolating and shameful.  While my son was alive I had already had someone plant a deep seed of shame in my heart and I had no desire to revisit it.  As a matter of fact I have worked hard to uproot it from my heart.  To rewrite that narrative with the grace it deserves.  Somehow I  wanted to preserve a memory of Justin that portrayed all the good times but the truth is there was a pain that will forever be a part of our story.  That pain does not devalue the love I had for him.

I journaled this a month or so after the death of my son from an accidental overdose.  Please don't allow his death to rob you of hope for your child.  The odds are good for overcoming many addictions especially with all the new treatments available.  Please continue to love big and hold hope in your heart.  Do everything you can each day that is all you can do.  Take care of you, have good boundries but love freely.  Get the help you need to see truth in the situation but never let go of hope.

My hope has always been centered around heaven and I hope you can see that in the midst of this tangled web of emotions.  I hope it honors his goodness and his struggle.  I pray it sheds light on the pain of a mother and her love for her child. I hope somehow it helps someone to let go of shame and step into light.  I pray it brings revelation and a letting go of judgements.

May this bring comfort to your soul and peace in your grief. 

Justin
He was a boy wonder and a snake charmer.
He was the first and a superstar.
He was sticky sweet like candy and he was poison.
He was the laughter of thousands and the weeping of a mother.
He was a master magician and a disappearing act.
He was a roller coaster and a sink hole.
He was a lover and a fighter.
He was a little boy and yet a giant.
He was broken and fully functioning.
He was the brightest star and the moonless darkest night.

He was a boy wonder, a manchild and the hope of a mother,
He was the joy of a father, a brother, a grandson and a cousin.
He was my son hard and twisted and light and love,
He was hope and darkness all rolled into one.

He was my baby and my heart shattering pain.
He was my greatest joy and my greatest failure.
He was my hope of victory and the devastation of terrifying nights.
He was struggling imperfection and tormented beyond understanding.

He is perfection and no struggling.
He is every bit of wonderful and no more pain.
He is my longing and my joy.
He is my hope of heaven and my boy.


Be comforted friends in every season with the hope of heaven.  None of us are alone in our pain, but often it can feel that way.  Please share this with those you might know that are struggling with this type of pain.  I long to see my pain redeemed through helping others. 

We live in hope,
Debbie

I am Loathe

I Am LOATHE

I am loathe to write this, loathe to put myself out there in the middle of hated debate and horrendous division.  Yet, I feel to be true to myself I must.  To be true to you, I must.  Not because I am a great writer or have a huge following but because my responsibility is to my circle of influence, my circle of love, my circle of hope gatherers and truth tellers.

I watched as Dr. Ford shared her story, I watched with a knot in the pit of my stomach and tears welling in my eyes.  I believed her.  Because I have stories of not reporting myself. I watched with an open mind as Judge Kavanaugh defended himself. I believe him to be a good man but I do believe that it is possible he committed this act against Dr. Ford.  Yes, there are inconsistencies in her story and proof is not there.  Believing something happened (I find her very credible) and wanting Kavanaugh destroyed are two very different things.

I do believe that thirty-five years ago boys, and make no mistake he was a boy with an immature brain growing up in a culture of misogyny.  Where 'boys will be boys" was a common excuse for horrible behavior.  Where that type of behavior among star athletes and the popular crowd in high school was not uncommon.  Where boys believe that they are entitled to what they want and that “no really means yes.”  They manipulate the facts to interpret their own truth.  She was a slut, she wanted it.   I do not believe it is any different today.  I have cried a river with the #metoo movement as I have come to realize little has changed in the last thirty-five years. 

As a ten year old girl I was molested by a stranger.  I told no one.  I had left a slumber party when I had been told not to, it was clearly my fault - at least that was my assumption.  My family was already in what felt to me to be turmoil.   I didn't want to add to that.  So I suffered quietly and threw my Holly Hobby pants away.  It haunted me and affected me in ways that I have fought hard to eradicate from my life.  How can you really ever remove the stain of something ingrained in your mind for 5 years before you ever even spoke of it?  

In College as a young, impressionable girl I was thrilled to go out with a Senior "Fraternity" boy.  In borrowed clothes and fancy shoes I went with high hopes of finding a place of belonging among the "little sisters" of the fraternity.  Instead I found out that no, doesn't really mean no, to a young man. Afterward he unceremoniously dropped me at my dorm where I stumbled in the doors. I was shocked and confused.   I did not report, I was ashamed. I was embarrassed that someone I saw as so charming would treat me with such aggression and lack of concern.  I felt I didn't fight hard enough, and it is true that at some point his 175 pounds was too much for my 105 pounds. In my shock and my horror I went numb and still.  Tears ran down my face but obviously to him, I wanted it.  Fear of my word against his word, fear of being "that girl", fear of being kicked off my dance team and fear of retaliation paralyzed me.  I did not report.  He however did. He reported that I was a slut  who slept with guys on the first date.  I was an easy one night stand, he reported.  I did not. I held my head up and proved him wrong, but not without my own inner turmoil and torment.   I think he was a stupid awful boy, I can't begin to understand why he thought it was okay or what his perception was and is even today.  

I now hear that he is a good man, a family man.  

Throughout my life I have heard men say inappropriate things, bosses make passes at me and even just recently caught someone taking a picture of my ass.  I don't understand. I myself married a man who was a sexual predator(my opinion his diagnosis was "love addict"), using his position and power to manipulate women into bed with him. Saying wildly inappropriate things and using them as bait on a fish hook.  People knew but did nothing.  I believed his indignation and stood by him.  The power of a convincing liar and narcissist is hard to see.Even now I still feel that familiar shame that I allowed myself to become powerless and manipulated by him.  

I regret my powerlessness but still can see that there was also good in the man I married.  It is almost impossible for us to conceive of such evil among such good and yet it is there.  Sin and evil exist in each of us and if given space, gives birth to the unspeakable.  

Good men learn to not give into that evil. Good men grow from boys that have often made mistakes, I do believe that.  We all fall short and none of us are without sin.  

The fact that on the floor of the senate someone would say, this deviant behavior would have been a repeated pattern in Kavanaugh's life, is ridiculous and demonstrates his lack of understanding of these types of situations. Yes, there are serial rapist but there are also boys and men that are one time rapist/abusers walking among us.  They were good boys that did a bad thing.  Or that any Senator would comment on Dr. Fords attractiveness is beyond absurd.  There is a problem people and it is not just our boys.  It is a systemic problem rooted in culture and driven by hormones, sexism, entitlement and evil.  

  

I make no excuses for it only to say, what will it take to change it?  

Our boys sometimes make mistakes, sometimes become abusers, even though they have been loved their entire lives by a woman.  Even though they would say they respect women.  We cannot believe that this is not a serious problem when one in three women will be sexually assaulted according to the CDC.  Of those one in three, currently only 60% report.  If one in three will be assaulted, then how many boys and men are the abusers?  Statistically they are typically someone the girl or woman already knows.  I would assume if the statistic is one in three for the women then maybe one in six are abusers? Just my personal opinion.  I would also add that many of those men do not even realize or would categorize their behavior as sexual abuse.  How scary is that? 

I don't know how to change the "rape" culture.  I don't believe anyone deserves to be assaulted, male or female.  I don't believe that just because someone is drunk, they asked for it.  I don't believe clothes create the problem.  I do believe alcohol plays a role on both sides.  I can think of many occassions where I heard stories of many boys joining in on a girl too drunk to really know what was going on. I have been privy to even seeing pictures of such behavior because of a position I held in college.   Is that a mob mentality? It is disgusting.   I don't know or understand why this is happening.  

I want to, I really do because maybe if we can understand we could begin to fix the problem. I understand that women can be abusers as well but what is permeating our society currently is the onslaught of women finding their voice and speaking out finally about their stories of abuse.  I personally believe them, I personally am one of them and I personally celebrate their bravery.  We are not hysterical nor are we just joining in to join in, we are finding our power in our collective stories and longing for change. 

Yes, in every movement there will be some who capitalize on the frenzy by bringing false reports.  It is that way in every segment of life.  That is why it is so critical to teach reporting, to end slut shaming and to teach strength, dignity and honor to one another.  We must have ways to prove behavior and protect the falsley accused. 

I am in the middle.  I believe the totality of someone’s life should not be judged on mistakes made in High School or College.  I certainly don't want someone judging me on my High School and College years or looking at my yearbook to determine my integrity.  I am frightened that unsubstantiated assaults from 35 years ago can destroy a career and a life. What if that was one of my sons? 

I believe Dr. Ford. Something traumatic happened to her, as has happened to so many of us. Yes, over time memories can be dimmed, some parts confused, over time on both sides.  Perception is definitely interpretive for each individual.  This will always be part of the problem.  He said, she said. 

But, when will we address the real issue?  When will there be a national outcry to investigate the root causes and make systemic changes in a society that degrades women yet also loves women.  I believe in good men, I believe people make mistakes, but when will our girls learn to yell, learn to fight back, learn to not give in, unless we speak up and show them how to be brave. 

I am not trying to bash men here, I am simply saying I am in the middle.  As a mother of young men, as a women who has been abused, as a woman who has had to fight to not carry shame and self-loathing into her future, I say....When will it change?  I love men.  I believe in the power of redemption and I believe in good men because I know good men.  

I am terrified that if we as women swing too far in our indignation and hatred we will not find the truth and change we hope for. Polarizing ourselves will lead to discrediting our true desire for change.   Rage rarely produces change.  We should continue to share our stories and our indignation, but let us do so with hearts that are righteous and seeking good, not exacting revenge.  

I long for both sides to win in this battle against humanity.  That is the only chance for true change.  I pray for our country to quit warring within and fight a battle against this evil.  Divided we will always fall. Our country is at war against itself and it is a disgrace.  Our battle is not between parties our battle is against evil and on that we can all stand together.  

Let us care more about each other than we do about politics.  Let us be those who carry a banner for change with a heart of love.  

We live in hope and belong to one another,

Debbie 

P.S. Please don't bother putting up shitty comments.  If you don't like it, don't read it. 

Muzzle the Monster

SO...funny story, I had started this blog about the big bad wolf but had only sketched out a thought for the artwork.  Then as I was scrolling through the events on Facebook I saw this painting class so I took it!  It was a great experience and I loved the teacher.  To me it is typical that when you have something going on in your mind, writing or art it all comes together in unexpected ways.  Trust the process, trust God.

TAMING THE MONSTER 

The fear I lived with on a daily basis is ridiculous.  Always waiting for the "other shoe to drop".  There are seasons where it seemed to subside and seasons where it seemed to rule my life.  We all have fear.  I write about it often because I think it is such a dominant theme in our lives.  We live with rational fear and we live with irrational fear.  It manifest in many ways; fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of success, fear of risk, fear of unknown, fear of death, fear of being hurt(isolation), etc.  I could go on and on about all the different types of fear but each fear we have is individually wrapped in our life story, the circumstances of our past and our daily life.  Fear brings friends to the party like worry, isolation, anxiety, depression, codependency and insomnia.  Fear is highly individualized and yet at its very core the same.  Fear is nothing but love turned upside down.  

Recently I had this vision of fear, a picture instead of just the feeling. 

I saw little Red Riding Hood all grown up.  In her hand was a leash and on the end of the leash the big bad wolf.  He was muzzled, unable to bark at all.  I sat and thought about my old friend "fear" who at one time in my life had been the driving force.  Fear of rejection, fear of disapproval, fear of failure, fear of being hurt, fear for my children, fear of it all crumbling down, all of these things were out of control in one way or another in my life.  Ravaging my mind with constant racing thoughts of terror.  

Fear had become so familiar, I didn't even realize the intrusion it had in my life.  Fear was a constant companion. I thought I was doing as well as I could, and maybe I was.  I had a child that was addicted to drugs, a high pressure job (life) and two more children to be concerned about.  In that seasons life was thick with untamed thoughts, anxiety and restless nights.  Nights were spent ruminating on my fears and my days filled with striving to control my life in order to calm the fears. Some of my fears were rational but often those were overshadowed by the  monster of irrational fear.  I was happy but lurking beneath the surface was a tsunami of fear.  All of my striving in my own strength could not keep it down.  My faith stayed strong, it kept me a float in the ocean of destruction but I could not seem to win the battle.  I am forever grateful to those that surrounded my during those days and spoke truth and hope into my life. 

So what changed?  How did I go from that person who was controlled by fear to a person living predominantly a fearless life.  Well, in all honesty the worst happened and I survived.  Pain changes people, it just does.  I had to look hard at my life (it was a shambles) and build a new one.  I had to choose love and joy.  I truly am living out my dreams, taking risk and sometimes failing but always winning.  Winning, because I take the risk.   I am an artist, braving to do things the very things I am afraid of and doing my best to live in love.  Trying everyday not to let fear win.  I still struggle with fear in some areas of my life, those areas where the deepest wounds are but it is not consuming.  

Let me state this  again very clearly, I still struggle with fear but it is manageable now.  I try to stay engaged in the battle daily.  Here are my notes on Fear.  

1.  With fear there are two battles---one to get free, the other to stay free.  Life has to be intentional.  We can learn and grow in our understanding of fear, tear ourselves loose of it's grip but if we are not intentional we will find ourselves right back in it's grip.  It is a lifelong battle.  Fill your life with intentional choices of love not fear.  

2.  Much of our fear is based on our past.  Our wounds typically direct our fears.  Learn to heal those wounds, don't give them any more power over your life by allowing them to dictate how you live.  Here is an example from my life:  I was afraid of my art not being good enough (okay well actually I was afraid of not being enough all the time ) because I thought my art wouldn't be good enough(it was discouraged in my circle at the time) I quit doing something I love, painting.  I could give you a million more examples but you are likely already thinking of your own.  Don't let the past dictate your future!

3.  Quit feeding your fear.  Stop thinking on it, stop ruminating over and over about what could go wrong and flip it on it's head.  I love that quote, But what if I fall oh my darling what if you fly? When your mind is racing ask yourself these questions:  Is this real? What is the worst that can happen?  What is the best that can happen?  Then quit feeding your fear by rehearsing it in your mind over and over and start focusing on what the best that could happen is.  God has given us the ability to retrain our brains, start thinking on those things that are good and lovely.  Think on love. 

4.  Realize that we see things often as the big bad wolf when in reality fear is just a dog that you control.  Put it on a leash and muzzle it.  I always think of this acronym...FEAR: False Evidence Appearing Real.  Seventy five percent of the time, fear is not based in any type of reality.  YOU have power over it. 

5.  Fear will keep you from living fully in the present, rob you of your love and joy.  Fear keeps us focused on the future and protecting ourselves and our loved ones but that focus keeps us from living with love in our present because we are living with fear instead of love.  The absence of fear is actually a childlike faith, a joy in today, a love and zest for life. 

6.  To realize your true passions and potential you must be willing to embrace fear and take risk. Once I survived the loss of my son and the loss of my marriage I realized that i could survive anything.  You can survive anything.  I just started tuning into my fear and running towards it, that is what changes it.   I leaned into the scary things and found out they had no real power.  I failed and failed again and then eventually succeeded.  Failure is part of success but if you refuse to try you will never experience the exhilaration of success.  Choose to believe in the power of love to carry you through failure.  

I spent a great deal of my life trying to protect myself.  Creating a world where everyone loved me, where everything would be perfect.   I thought I lived in love but actually the house I built was founded on fear.  I filled it with as much love as I could but in the end a bad foundation will always crumble and fall apart.  Turns out it was a house of cards.  We really have no control over life, it is in the makers hands.   Choose to believe that in His hands love will win. 

I haven't won the battle but I am building a better foundation.  A foundation built on truth, faith and self love.  It is not wrong to love yourself, it is necessary.  I loathed myself for many years, treated myself poorly and believed I deserved to be treated like a dog on a leash.  That was what fear had done to me, my life of self protection was really just a form of slavery.  

I can only tame the monster of fear with love.  Love for myself, love for my God and love for others.  If I love myself I will fight against allowing fear to rob me of life's best.  If I love God I will trust Him and His plan.  If I love others fearlessly I will experience authentic love.  All of these things muzzle the monster of fear in my life.  This is my choice, what will you choose?

 Life isn't always easy friends, but it is "brutiful".  A mixture at times of beauty and brutal experiences.  There is always love.  Look for it, fight for it and believe in it. Thanks for reading tribe.  I write for me and I write in hopes that it will help others.