Recently, Stand Up Survivor posted an image on their social media accounts and asked for feedback. The image said, “I wish that people knew that domestic violence…” I started thinking about what my answer to that would be. I know every experience is different, but here is what I wish that people knew when it …
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court decided in favor of Norma McCorvey (aka “Jane Roe”) and held that women in the United States had a right to choose whether or not to have abortions. Roe v. Wade changed the trajectory of history. However, I had no idea “Jane Roe” never actually had an abortion. …
My church is doing 3 days of prayer and fasting. The definition of fasting is “to restrict food for a spiritual purpose.” Basically, for 3 days, I’m redirecting the time that I would normally spend eating, to time in prayer. Fasting is about drawing nearer to God. It’s a way to celebrate the goodness and …
This past year I worked really hard on changing my mindset. I knew my negative self-talk and negative thoughts were hurting me. But I had no idea just how life-draining allowing myself to engage in negative thoughts had become. It was super simple for my thoughts to quickly enter into a downward spiral. When I …
My family has a tradition that we all look forward to. At the end of every year, we all write our year in review. I like to do my year in review by going through my pictures to help jog my memory. It’s usually a lot of fun looking back on the year and seeing …
After initial examination of the evidence, the Judge granted me a temporary restraining order against Keller in early December. My lawyer explained that Keller and I would need to appear before the Judge and we could each plead our case. After that, the Judge would issue his final verdict – either granting the restraining order …
It took a few months to get all of the evidence together to turn over to my lawyer. It seemed like a never ending task to compile everything because new emails from Keller were sent to my inbox almost daily. However, it was only a matter of time before the escalation the lawyer said would …
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue a restraining order against Keller. That felt so harsh and so final. What if he got help? What if he changed? What if I wanted him to be in our lives at some point in the future? If I pursued a restraining order, I knew there would …
The pastor at church last week said something that really stuck out to me. He said, “Everyone wants to experience a miracle, but nobody wants to need one.” I’ve been in a place where I was in need of a miracle. It was a terrifying position to be in. I was sitting in a Planned …
Sometimes I catch myself dwelling on my disappointments. I focus on the fact that I’m still looking for a job, that I’m still single at 32, and that, at this point, my life doesn’t look like I imagined it would. It’s so easy for my negative thoughts to completely take over and leave me feeling …