Tag Archive for: Dear Survivor

Dear Survivor series on Freedomforcaptives.com

Dear Survivor: I am afraid of other men.

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Dear Fellow Survivor, I’d like to share with you a victory I experienced this morning. I was able to work out at the gym and shower and dress in the locker room without falling into a spiral of mental and emotional turmoil.
Dear Survivor

Dear Survivor: Your victories are worth celebrating.

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Dear Fellow Survivor, I’d like to share with you a victory I experienced this morning. I was able to work out at the gym and shower and dress in the locker room without falling into a spiral of mental and emotional turmoil.

Dear Survivor: You Are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

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Dear Fellow Survivor, I’ve already shared with you that one of the most long-lasting effects of the abuse I experienced is a profoundly distorted view of my body (something called body dysmorphia). The specific details of the abuse seared onto my mind images of myself and beliefs about myself that plague me to this day. For decades, it was impossible for me to see my body as it actually was. Even today, I often struggle with that. It’s hard for me to put into words just how much pain this terribly skewed view of my body has caused me.

Dear Survivor: God Is Bringing Good Out Of What You’ve Experienced

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Dear Fellow Survivor, In a previous letter, I assured you that none of us has ever been alone. God has always been with us, even when the abuse we experienced was happening. So, if God was there and saw everything that was happening, why didn’t he stop it?

Dear Survivor: God Will Enable You To Believe The Truth

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Dear Fellow Survivor, This is my sixth letter to you. I’ve written you to tell you that you are a child of God. I’ve assured you that Jesus is with you in your struggles. I’ve told you that the abuse you experienced is not your fault. And I’ve reassured you that you’re not alone.

Dear Survivor: You Are Not Alone

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Dear Fellow Survivor, Few things in my life have made me feel quite as isolated as having experienced sexual abuse. First, there was the isolation of the abuse itself. The secrecy. The shame. The inability to tell anyone what was going on. Then there was the isolation I felt when I began to realize that what I had experienced all those years ago was sexual abuse. No one I knew had experienced anything like what I had experienced. (At least, that’s what I thought.) And the ongoing shame made it seem unthinkable that I could ever share what had happened to me with anyone else, including my wife.

Dear Survivor: It’s Not Your Fault

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Dear Fellow Survivor, One of the many difficult things I struggled with as I came to terms with the abuse that I experienced was this question: How much of the abuse was I responsible for?

Dear Survivor: It’s OK To Struggle

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I’ve mentioned that one of the effects of the abuse I experienced is a grossly distorted body image, something that psychologists call body dysmorphic disorder. I have been plagued by this ever since the abuse happened. It has gotten a lot better since I’ve started therapy with my counselor. But it’s not completely gone. It tends to come in cycles. I’m feeling good for a while and then, wham! Something triggers it and I’m feeling awful again. This past week was one of those weeks.
You Are a Child of God

Dear Survivor: You Are A Child of God

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Dear Fellow Survivor, When I was twelve days old, my parents brought me to the baptismal font in front of our church. My father baptized me in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. And I became a child of God.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Dear Survivor: Allow Me To Introduce Myself

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Dear Fellow Survivor, Allow me to introduce myself. I am a child of God. I am a husband and a father. I am a pastor. And I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse.