Hope for Survivors are pages from my journals, prayers, and meditations on the value of suffering in the Christian life. Most of these were written during my escape to freedom, not only from sociopathic abuse but from spiritual abuse in church.
I hope they encourage you as you walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death!
Sparrow Talk By: Susan Deborah Schiller If I were a sparrow, what would I see each day? Big birds, and lots of them, pushing and fighting for the best sunflower seeds. When the big birds swoop in, the sparrows flee to the nearest tree. Sparrows don't push or fight, but their needs and wants are […]
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YOU ARE A WARRIOR PRINCESS! You are a warrior like no other! You have been lied about, lied to, hit, kicked, stolen from, mistreated, been the brunt of anger, but yet you love! You are a woman that seeks help for your children and works hard to give your family the best! You are on call 24/7. […]
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I am Loved. All is Well. Everything I need and want is already here. It was placed in reserve at the time the world was created, long before I was ever born. (Ephesians 1) Even though I accept this Truth because God has promised to never abandon me, I still struggle with over-thinking and trying […]
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To Whisper a Doxology in the Darkness By: Susan Deborah Schiller Photo Credit: Akiane Gallery, License purchased in 2010 To be grateful for an unanswered prayer, to give thanks in a state of interior desolation, to trust in the love of God in the face of the marvels, cruel circumstances, obscenities, and commonplaces of life […]
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Where Do You Want to Be in One Year? By: Susan Deborah Schiller "It may be that when we no longer know what to do, We have come to our real work, And when we no longer know which way to go, We have begun our real journey." – Wendell Berry "Where do you […]
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How do I choose Love when someone I have allowed into the deepest places of my heart has turned against me? What does choosing Love look like when you are being deliberately and maliciously harmed? This kind of thing happens in churches all across the world, and in Christian marriages and families. In prayer, I […]
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Astonished by the Most Brilliant Light in the Darkest Times By: Susan Deborah Schiller Following the Light means choosing Love, and for me today that's reading old journals, which I call conversations with Daddy. I like to call them "brilliant thoughts" – like stars piercing through the dark heavens. A brilliant thought originates beyond my […]
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Reinvention through Resurrection By: Susan Deborah Schiller Previous Chapter: The Suicide Notice "…Hope knows that if great trials are avoided, great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.… When tragedy makes its unwelcome appearance and we are deaf to everything but the shriek of our own agony, when courage flies […]
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War of Peace By: Susan Deborah Schiller If you’re like me, this past year may have been one of the toughest years of your life. Do you feel like you’ve been holding on by your fingernails and they’re bleeding, or worse, have you fallen into the abyss of despair? Not everyone understands us. We are […]
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An Encounter at God's Beauty Spa By: Susan Deborah Schiller What if the abuse you've endured serves to make you bigger, better, and more beautiful? What if what scares you turns into your greatest source of blessing? What if the ugliest things you've seen and heard are being used to make you more beautiful? What if the weapon […]
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Treasures in the Tearing By: Susan Deborah Schiller “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? The world would split open.” — Terrence Tempest Williams Some days it's just too hard to write another word. Do you, too, know this struggle? That's when I pull out Leigha's words and say them […]
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The Truth Cannot be Extinguished By: Susan Deborah Schiller The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not understand it, and cannot extinguish it… – Madeleine L'Engle Hope is a Light shining in the darkness, even if at first it's just a tiny beam. Even on days when I'm straining to focus on […]
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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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Splashes of Divinity By: Susan Deborah Schiller I want to be like Mother Teresa who looked for Christ in every human being. I want to be like my Lakota friends who see a splash of Divinity in every part of nature: plant, animal, and rock. I want to walk in the Truth that all of […]
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Love from Papa By: White Dove What I hear Papa saying… "Let's talk about provision, even in winter," I heard Papa God whisper to me. In my mind's eye I saw an apple orchard, like the one in my backyard… the emotions of abundance, freedom, and beauty came with that memory. "I want to give you […]
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When confronted with hatred, I choose Love. By: Susan Deborah Schiller Ponderings… Love never fails. Love overcomes evil. Love does no harm. Love doesn't raise it's voice to a fragile woman or child. Love lays down its own life for the sake of others. Love is a gift freely given. […]
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Don't Despise the Day of Small Beginnings By: Susan Deborah Schiller If you're a regular reader here, you may have noticed something has changed… TeamFamilyOnline – a 'place holder' name I used in 2010 when I was attending copywriting school – has been set aside, for now. Retired, I guess, is a better word. The […]
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Stand & Shine By: Susan Schiller From the series "Love from Papa' Papa, it's dark out and a chill wind is picking up speed. I hear the cries and groans of all the afflicted, it seems, in between my own sobs. My only hope is you. You are the Light of the World. You are […]
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Emerging from the Shadowlands By: White Dove This is a story for those who feel like they have fallen through the cracks – misunderstood by peers, shunned, or even exiled. It's for those who the doctors have not been able to help. It's for the quiet ones who stay at home, preferring not to engage […]
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It's Not Your Fault By: Susan Deborah Schiller Note: This letter is written not to one specific reader, but is addressed to several different readers who wrote to me this past weekend, who have asked many of the same questions. Dear Friend, You have a good heart and it's not our fault you trusted a […]
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