A privilege and an honor

A dream come true!!! An opportunity to give back just as I had hoped.

Dear Kim Dunham-Christian,

Hello to ALL! Before anything else, I would like to commend each and everyone of you for your courage in sharing your experience and yourself as we work to create the first ever state-wide Speaker's Bureau for survivors of sexual and domestic violence in Virginia. Your words and the knowledge that you have gained along your journey have the power to bring healing and hope to so many. Your presence and your willingness to share your experiences can bring about much needed progress and change to a culture that, far too often, turns a blind eye on the trials that face survivors of sexual and domestic violence. Silence has been our enemy for far too long. Together we can make our voices heard!

The Survivor Caucus of the Virginia Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Action Alliance has reviewed your application and would like to invite you to attend our first Speaker's Bureau Training...


When I received this email I cried because there was finally a way for me to make a difference; an opportunity to stand before the General Assembly, local legislative bodies, schools, churches, etc. and let them know that there is a name, face, and voice for Domestic/Sexual Abuse victims in Virginia.

We had a training session two weeks ago and to say that it was intense would be an understatement. I met 8 wonderful women who have been affected by domestic/sexual violence in their lives as victims or advocates and they each touched me in a way that I can't begin to describe.

I knew accepting this would be a challenge but it was one that I felt I was ready to take. I wasn't wrong. It opened up a lot of wounds that I'd like to keep closed but they won't ever heal that way so it was/is much needed. I heard stories similar to mine, more horrific and heartbreaking but also stories of victory, survival and thriving that boosted me up and let me know that greater things are out there for me.

I received hope that one day there will be no more demons haunting me, no more nightmares, no more fear and total healing and forgiveness for everyone involved. I received hope for a brighter future not just for myself, but for all the victims that have been silenced in the past.

As we stand up and tell our stories, their stories, we can bring about a change in the way society views us, handles and supports us as we strive to break the silence, break the chains of bondage that keep us in the dark or cowering and living in fear from our abusers.

And where there is hope, there is light to show the way as we walk out of the darkness.

Back in the saddle

When I posted my last blog entry over a year ago I had no idea the impact it would have on my life. How cut off from the world, my thoughts and emotions it would make me but I was running. Running from the demons and trying to keep my sanity at the same time. I had been found, my perfect world shattered and in order to maintain what little composure I had left I had to sign off and walk away from the best therapy I had received over the past two years of hell I had been living through.

Now I'm back and I'm not running any more. I've come to grips with my demons and am actively working them out. It's a daily process but one that I know I can live up to and succeed at as long as I keep my eye on the prize.

I have grown from being a victim to being a victor and now I am an advocate. I won't let all that I have been through be for naught. I'm gearing myself up to step out there and make a difference in the life of someone else who is going through what I have gone through. I will advocate for the broken down, battered and abused women and children of this world. I won't sit back in silence because I'm not going through it any more. As long as one person is still living under physical bondage, fear, isolation, depression and emotional purgatory at the hands of another person what right do I have to turn a blind eye?

God brought me through this for a purpose and I shall fulfill it. According to His word: "...We are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us." Romans 8:37 (AMP)

I have gained a victory through Him who was my strength when I was weak and my light in the darkness when I was lost. "... I am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is life." John 8:12 (AMP)

His word is filled with truth beyond my greatest comprehension but as I live each day I get closer and closer to Him and my knowledge grows deeper and deeper and my faith gets stronger and stronger.

I speak His Words to keep myself encouraged, I pray his words to keep myself protected and I try to live His words to make my life have meaning and purpose. Through it all, every trial, tribulation, or stumbling block the enemy chooses to toss my way I stand strong in knowing that "...no weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against you in judgment you shall show to be wrong. This [peace, righteousness, security, triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the Lord [those in whom the ideal Servant of the Lord is reproduced]; this is the righteousness or the vindication which they obtain from Me [this is that which I impart to them as their justification], says the Lord. " Isaiah 54:17 (AMP)

I am back!!!