A Safe Place
By: Susan Deborah Schiller
Who do you trust? Do you have a safe place? We all need to feel secure – it's a basic human need.
The family is the backbone of society, but for many of us, it's a broken one, at best. Home – the place we can count on for unconditional love and acceptance, food and shelter, laughter and hope – is ground zero in the war on earth.
We're exhausted from the constant battles, as the sociopaths and narcissists of this world climb the ladder to success while we have been excommunicated, shunned, overlooked, and misunderstood.
There's been a deperate cry in my heart, more like a silent groan, to find Home. It's not an escape plan. It's not an exit door. It's the lioness arising within me to defend my territory and to protect my children's children's children.
It's time to get our lives back!
I am a homemaker. I am a mother. I am a wife. Not all in that order.
I was taught to be a nice girl. The enemy counts on nice girls playing nice. Nice girls submit to authority, follow the rules, and everything turns out right. Nice girls grow up and go to church, study their Bibles, obey their husbands, and train their children to do the same. I gave to charity, volunteered in my church, graduated from a Christian college, worked in full-time ministry for a large, international ministry.
I was accepted, beloved, and applauded. But it was all wrong.
We were using the world's system to promote our ministries and pretty soon the sociopaths and narcissists were in control. I repented and turned in the opposite direction. All hell broke loose. It's not that it wasn't hell before then; it's just that my repentance made waves.
I lost everything. More than a decade passed of sorting through the rubble of my deconstructed life. Throughout that time my constant prayer was "I want to go Home!" Once again, not an exit plan. Not an escape from reality. I was begging God to show me why we as leaders had opened the door to the wolves!
I wanted to know how to create a safe place… a place of beauty, truth, and peace… in the midst of the chaos.
There is a shaking going on all over the earth that is arousing more and more people to the reality that I've just described. In our "niceness" the Body of Christ has chosen denial when Evil shows up cloaked in a masquerade costume of Light and Goodness. Sociopaths have invaded our territory with systems, programs, and religious structures that steal, kill, and destroy God's family.
Hundreds of thousands of believers are leaving their churches and for many it feels like entering a wilderness. The ground is dry and parched and the temptation to return to religion is very great. The wolves know that, so even in the desert there are false "safe places" in the form of countless books, blogs, and online groups.
Yes, in the guise of helping those who have been spiritually abused and violated, the wolves have opened their doors to those who are still confused, trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.
Nevertheless…
These are the most exciting days on Planet Earth, and life is GOOD! Life is very good. Our world, our lives have been created by God whose is Good. Christ won the war, defeating evil once and for all. Maybe the real problem is that we've forgotten our way Home. Maybe the real illusion is all the fear we endure. The anxiety and the panic attacks are just as prevelant among Christians as anyone else. There are just as many divorces among Christians as non-Christians… actually slightly more.
The family is the backbone of society and Home is meant to care for the family.
We are not orphans. We are dearly beloved children of our Father!
He came to make His home inside of us, as near as our very own hearts. The kingdom of heaven is within us, and every problem we encounter has a provision. The answers, the provisions, the resources, and the solutions to every problem come from within us. Home is the very center of our being. We enter Home by choosing Love.
Every day, every moment of every day, we have two choices. We choose fear or we choose love. Perfect love casts out all fear.
This blog has been created to honor my Father, who I call Papa God – Abba. Because He brought me Home. I never could have made it without true friends, who I mainly contact via the Internet, and so the name of this site is TeamFamilyOnline.com.
As my friends have done for me, so I would like to do for you… to be a resting place on the way Home! I'm not here to teach, to preach, or to talk. I'm sharing stories. And I'm listening to your stories. That's it.
I'm following in the footsteps of the greatest Storyteller of all!
“Storytellers are a threat. They threaten all champions of control, they frighten usurpers of the right-to-freedom of the human spirit — in state, in church or mosque, in party congress, in the university or wherever.” – Chinua Achebe
I want to hear your story! Really, that's mainly what families do, right? We empathize with each other through our stories. And that's the very one thing the sociopaths cannot fathom. They cannot empathize. They, too, are master storytellers but only because they realize it's the best way to touch someone's heart.
“Storytellers are the most powerful people on earth. They might not be the best paid– but they are the most powerful. Storytellers have the power to move the human heart– and there is no greater power on earth.” – Laurie Hutzler
That's why I'm here, just sharing stories. We are all part of HIS-STORY. We are His body. As we awaken to our dear Father's love, walking with our hand in His, we discover that all of life is sacred. There is no such thing as "secular" so why do we need a separate place and time for "religion"?
How about if we just walk together on this journey of life – real life? Those who want the position, the power, and the praise will perhaps envy our freedom and begin to choose love. That is my dream, my hope, my constant prayer.
Choosing love today,
Sue
Susan Schiller knows how it feels to lose everything: marriage and family, church and reputation, finances and businesses, and more. Susan's upcoming, interactive memoir, "On the Way Home," tells the story of how she came to be known as "the most abused woman" her counselors had yet met and how she learned to navigate her way out of hell to a rich and satisfying life. In her lifetime, Susan has served in duties ranging from home school mom – to pastor – to full-time deliverance minister – and to Midwest regional prayer coordinator for a large international ministry. These days you can usually find Susan soaking in her favorite hot springs pool, reading a book (or several), blogging, baking bread, or hanging out with her family and friends. You can get a free copy of Susan's upcoming book, "On the Way Home" by registering here.
Copyright 2012, Susan Schiller, http://TeamFamilyOnline.com. Permission is granted to copy, forward, or distribute this article for non-commercial use only, as long as this copyright byline and bio, in totality, is maintained in all duplications, copies, and link references. For reprint permission for any commercial use, in any form of media, please contact Susan Schiller.
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