Uncomfortable: Childhood Sexual Abuse, PTSD, What I Wish I Had Known, and The Cost of Silence

We can run, but we cannot hide from ourselves—or our past.At age forty-three, the past that I thought I had so neatly put behind me collided with the present. I had spent many years trying to distance myself from the memories of my childhood. Little did I understand that my past was controlling every aspect of my life. All the years of depression, anxiety, and addictions could have been avoided if I had known what I understand today. That is what this book is all about—what I wish I had known.I had believed the lie that time heals all wounds. This idea of time and healing may be true of broken hearts, but with the trauma of child abuse, this understanding could not be further from the truth. Our future can be full of joy and happiness in the wake of abuse, but only once we learn how to face our past. I spent over twenty years hiding from my past in church, hoping that God would somehow make it all go away. In many ways my life was enriched, but in many other ways, I was worse off than when I started. In this book, I explore why so many of us seem to be languishing in church when the opposite should be true. The truth is that God loves us way too much to allow us to run away from what He knows can become our better qualities. I hope you will join me as I share my past of abuse, what I have experienced along my journey, my ideas about God and who He has become in my life, and what I have learned about healing and recovery. Read more