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Five Big Questions to Flesh our Your Stories By: Susan Deborah Schiller I have been in the company of great women this week. Each of these women has told me stories of triumphs over adversity in their lives, of lessons it has taken them a lifetime to learn, and it inspired everyone at the table. […]
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Silence the Abused – Cover Up the Crime By: Susan Deborah Schiller I was married to a sociopath for two decades. We were active Christian leaders and from all outward appearances we were "normal". That's the scariest part about sociopaths – they look like normal Christians. Like tares in a wheat field, they blend in perfectly. […]
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The words you speak become the house you live in. — Hafiz A life story chapter by: Susan Deborah Schiller Many of us are living as widows and orphans while God has promised us abundant life. Could it be that the experience of poverty, whether in finances, opportunities, or quality of our relationships […]
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Avoid this Trap: Standing Under A Distorted Command of "Submission" By: Kimberly Dimick The following letter was written to a woman who was enduring false submission to her abusive husband during the same time that Kimberly was divorcing Joshua. (Kimberly's and Joshua's "ruins to restoration" stories are available by clicking their names. Please let me […]
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Around the Bend By: Susan Deborah Schiller My husband and I have been exploring rivers this year, sometimes in a motorboat and sometimes by canoe. The Tongue River in Eastern Montana is my favorite, because it bends and twists on itself every few hundred feet. For miles and miles you never hear a sound except […]
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Is An Abused Wife Codependent? By: Kimberly Dimick On the issue of co-dependency in MARRIAGE, we must look at this topic using Biblical due process. We want to process this subject through the lens of God's Word. "Abused women are not co-dependent," writes Lundy Bancroft, "It is the abusers, not women, who create abusive relationships." […]
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Practicing the Art of Being Wild 'n Free By: Susan Schiller For centuries the bald eagle has been a symbol of freedom in our country. This past weekend my husband and I paddled a canoe for over 20-miles down the lazy Tongue River, in eastern Montana. The Tongue River borders the Cheyenne reservation and we […]
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Grandmother Power: Creating Happiness in Guatemala By: Susan Deborah Schiller The Power of One Grandmother on Fire can change a nation. One little life touching other little lives, one-by-one. This is a story of how one grandmother is creating her world in Guatemala, bringing happiness to widows and orphans. Felipa and Estrellita (photo above) are […]
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In Search of: A Message, A Man, A Meeting By: Vince Coakley The idea for this title belongs to my dear wife, Debbie. As we went for a walk the other day, we discussed the issues that will follow. Just today, I was meditating on the content for this blog posting. The heart behind it […]
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The Art of Goofy-Stupid By Susan Deborah Schiller "Do you want to go flying?" asked the Preacher. The Preacher had been sitting in the bandstand, next to the pool I wrote about in, "The Fountain of Youth" at midnight, and he had been listening to me sing. It was the next morning and I […]
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Lessons in the Desert: The Fountain of Youth From the Series, "Escape to Freedom: Diary of a Battered Preacher's Wife" ~ Part 2 Previous Chapter: Voice of the Moon Flower By: Susan McKenzie A.K.A. Tender Lily Stripping off jeans and jacket to my bathing suit underneath, I quickly let my body slip into the tranquil […]
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By: Sharon O'Day "Walking with the Wise" Series of Life Stories! Okay, I use the word “girl” loosely. I mean anyone of the female gender between 21 and 65. Or older … And I’m not talking mascara. Or Tampax®. Or Spanx®. Or a Cinnamon Dolce Latte. I’m talking about the real foundations of life. Not […]
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"A Psychopath's Confession" I was born in East Germany, before the Wall came down. When I was 9-months old my biological father packed me in a suitcase and smuggled me into West Germany, depositing me into an orphanage. At 18-months, I was adopted by a high level US military man. My adopted mom suffered a […]
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Choosing Love Today By: Susan McKenzie I used to believe that if you were kind and thoughtful, serve faithfully in church, be frugal with finances so you can give lots of money away to worthy causes, work hard, travel a lot, have fun, and always try to be nice to everyone, that you would have […]
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Misty Hollow – My Magical Place Guest writer of the week – "Walking with the Wise" Series By: Murray Lincoln, the Woodcarver of Misty Hollow "Where’re you going Grandpa?” My short legs followed his stride through the tall golden grass out past Grandma’s garden. The grass was dry and shimmered in the sun. It led […]
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Ekklesia: Family, but More Than Family by Stephen Crosby Dr. Stephen R. Crosby The Scripture uses many different metaphors to describe the ekklesia, the church. One common New Testament metaphor is the church as family.[1] This is a vital quality of the church universal and local. Without it, the church will never be what […]
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What if your life story includes tales of incest … should you tell, or not tell? Editor's note: Joe's story contains sexually explicit wording and may not be for everyone, but I've chosen to publish it, as is, so that you can hear the heart of a little girl now grown up. Joe's mission is […]
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As I pray, I wonder, "Is it enough?" Kara's Story Living with a narcissist or a sociopath is a day-by-day fight for survival. Often, due to shared child custody and visitation, the abuse never ends; and in fact, the abuse becomes much more subtle, clever, and designed to make you feel like you're going crazy. […]
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Silent No More: Fighting the Good Fight By: Susan Deborah Schiller I've been silent for too many years. Because our lives were public, I believe I need to speak up using our real names, even though I wish I could write a better story, a more pleasing story, a funny story… anything other than this. […]
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Leaping Skeletons, Part 1 By Susan McKenzie "I just don't feel like my life is worth it. I've made so many mistakes and I don't want the whole world to know about them!" exclaimed a local senior citizen, who I will fictitiously name "Dean". He had just finished sharing one of the […]
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