I was on a SKYPE interview with Igniting a Nation “Revealing the Truth” with Rev. Eric Walker to talk about April Sexual Assault Awareness and Child Abuse Prevention Month and during the break we spoke briefly on what I had been going through this past year. (This interview can be found at www.ianbn.com) I told [...]
Day by day I seek out the blessings that are offered, not to be a Pollyanna, but because it’s a necessary practice or I’d drown in sorrow and despair. In the past 18 months I’ve lived through more trials than given in a span of a lifetime. With each new trial I immediately remind myself [...]
This week the #MeToo movement has merged with the #NoMore movement and the conversation continues with what we will no longer tolerate. Interestingly enough, I have been putting myself through a ‘reboot’ of inventorying who I am, what I stand for, what I want and what I will and won’t tolerate. Essentially this is exactly [...]
Fight, flight or freeze. This is a concept we speak of often at Hopeful Hearts Ministry because 99% of us who have undergone some sense of traumatic event have carried a hefty bag of shame across our shoulders for years because we didn’t fight or run. Only in the past decade has the truth to [...]
Above my desk I have a sign that had hung in the original office before the hurricane, it was high enough we were able to save it, and it reads: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ~ James 4:8 I'm a visual person so when I read this sign I [...]
The anxiety still exists when I'm sitting down to write a blog. If you've followed me for the last 10+ years you know I'm very transparent in my writing and I won't allow that to stop. In full disclosure, lately the reason I can't sit down to write is because I battle with content. So [...]
The holidays can be a very difficult time for survivors of abuse. Many have been abused by relatives and this is a time that emphasizes family togetherness, goodwill and good cheer. I've known many survivors who have been forced to 'drink and be merry' sitting next to the person who abused them as a child [...]
My HOPE for Christmas is to soak in the LOVE of Christ through my family and friends. Call me to share a glass of vino and conversation and you'll be making my Christmas wish come true. I look ahead to 2018 and I am encouraged by the HOPE that resides within the very thread of [...]
Not sure how to catch everyone up. I did a reflection for a bible study on the Gospel of John last week that I was not able to deliver ... in the reflection I mentioned how I felt we should be studying Job as it seems that is what my life is currently mimicking at [...]
God Sees Something in You that You Don’t See in Yourself BY NAN BROWN SELF In the Roots of Unforgiveness chapter in Forgiveness: Making Space for Grace, I have written about the righteous root in my family, my grandmother Grace. She reflected Christ’s character; she was joyful in her faith and she was a grateful [...]
