A Flower Still Blooms By: White Dove In the deep silence of a rural Wyoming midnight, there was no immediate answer to my questions. Just a whisper, an invitation to see sociopathic abuse through a new lens. It is a year I’ll never forget, a season of walking a solitary path through the dark night […]
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The Kaleidoscope Effect By: Deborah Whtie Dove “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a […]
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Beware of the strong woman! By: White Dove Warning: Trigger alert. Please don't read if you are sensitive to images of family violence. "I'm ashamed of you! Why can't you have more grace?" said my pastor, after telling him I was divorcing my husband. We were just shy of our 20-year anniversary and the LAST […]
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When We Don't Understand God's Ways By: Susan Deborah Schiller When the bottom drops out of your life, your foundation crumbles, and everything you thought to be true and right is proven to be the opposite of what you thought, and you're sitting in a pile of rubble that you no longer […]
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At a Native American Powwow Clowns and Laughter Change the Atmosphere! By: White Dove I lived through a nightmare, but why? I was the ultimate "good girl," even a "goody two-shoes," as someone once named me. It took a long time for me to understand that "nice people" are usually the source of the greatest […]
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The Unmaking By: Susan Deborah Schiller How am I to interpret the meaning of a life lived in servitude to a sociopathic husband – a leader of our family and church? What happens when the devastation – emotional, economic, and neurological – forces us to reconsider what we want from life and what we don't want? […]
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Flesh-eating Christians and the Pearl of Great Price By: Susan Deborah Schiller From the series, "Love from Papa" where I try to listen to God's heartbeat while asking Him the tough questions on my heart. God, why don't you stop this wicked person? Why do you see him torturing me day after day, and do […]
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"Rise Up A Warrior" by Graham Cooke Your life will never be the same following sociopathic abuse, so why not make it your very best life ever? Graham Cooke is a mentor who has helped me the most, in the past 15 years. I've never met him in person, but I've read and listened to […]
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Predators in the Pulpit: Anatomy of a Seduction Trigger Alert: This post may not be suitable for all persons, nor for younger people.The purpose of writing this article in the 1st person of Evil is to allow you inside the head of a predator who was using the pulpit to access his victims. I have […]
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Duplicity – Living a Double Life By: White Dove My husband, a church leader also, was a pathological liar. But what was I? I was lying every day, every time I smiled. Every time I taught in church. I lied every time I assured people I loved my husband and my husband loved me. I […]
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Does A Sociopath Have A Heart By: Susan Deborah Schiller From the series, "Understanding Sociopaths & Abuse Tactics" A reader asked me, "does a sociopath have a heart"? In other words, is there ANY HOPE at all that they might change and become "real". I do know of extremely abusive people, even criminals, who have completely […]
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The King's Bride By: Susan Deborah Schiller Many women, much like holocaust survivors, ask me the same question, after having lost everything to their absuer: What is ahead of us as we are so close to retirement? We are widows, having lost both husbands and church. We fell through the cracks of institutional Christianity. We are […]
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How Does God View Women? By: Susan Deborah Schiller I graduated from a Christian college in Springfield, Missouri – a Bible Belt town and home to several Christian schools. In those days you could tell which students attended which college by their hairstyles and wardrobe. In comparison to our Baptist brothers and sisters, we Evangelicals […]
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I Lift Up My Eyes to the Hills By: Susan Deborah Schiller I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.…Psalm 121:1 I believe I am God's beloved child, and that He's been close by my side every day […]
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Plunging into the Heart of the Plague By: Susan Deborah Schiller Today I finish driving about 2000 miles across country, from my childhood home town to my present home town. It's nice to visit the 1st World but 3rd World living is where I really love to be. There's a plague all around me, but the people […]
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Giving Up Everything… and Gaining Back More By: Susan Schiller From the series, "Love from Papa" It was one of those days when the world, like a carousel with its power plug pulled, slowly spriraled to a stop. My carefully folded bulletins fluttered to the seat next to me and I sank like a collapsed […]
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Is God in Control When Kids are Murdered? By: Susan Schiller Photo Credit: Jim Palmer A friend of mine shared a recent family story, which you can read about at Lancaster Online. It's a story none of us wants to hear, but it shows the real terror of what happens when victims of sexual predation […]
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We Shall Overcome Part One of "Secret Heroes" Part Two of "Secret Heroes" Part Three of "Secret Heroes" By: White Dove One of my church leaders threatened to rape me. A second leader claimed he was going to torture me with knives, beginning with my feet and working up. In cohoots, my husband threatened to take piano wire and slice […]
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Reinvention through Resurrection By: Susan Deborah Schiller From my social media newsfeed about a year ago, a friend wrote … "So I'm sitting here with a broken heart wondering what on earth could bring a sister in Christ to a point that she would take her own life??? I don't understand??? It troubles me that […]
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Homosexuals, Marriage, and the Kingdom By: Susan Deborah Schiller Rainbows are appearing all over social media. There seems to a wide gap between traditional Christianity and inclusive believers, and I hope this little dream parable may help to bridge the gap. It's how I reconciled embracing homosexuals into my culture. For me, it was like stepping […]
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