A New Life for Little Wife

“Mr. Big Man,” said the judge as she passed him two pieces of paper.  Big Man looked up, reached out his big hand and took the papers from the judge with a confused look on his face.  “Mr. Big Man, you’ve just been served.  Glorie Christos, your request for a two-year plenary order of protection is approved by the court.  Please see the clerk to sign the paperwork. Case dismissed in favor of Glorie Christos.”

Glorie Christos (who was previously known as Little Wife) stood speechless.  She looked over at Big Man one last time and saw him shrivel right before her eyes.  All of his whining before the judge, all of his commotion with the crutches and the knee brace, all his talk about being baptized and how he now loved the Lord – now it meant nothing, because the judge had heard her story, believed her story and granted her safety and freedom from Big Man.  

She stood a little taller and walked out of the courtroom with a smile on her face.  “Thank you, Lord,” she whispered.  And when she got outside of the courthouse, she shouted, “Thank you, Jesus!” and didn’t care that people were staring at her.

Glorie Christos was free.  

She called her family, she called her friends, she called to reserve a moving truck to retrieve the family’s belongings that were still at Big Man’s house.  He had to stay away while she was at the house with her friends, loading the moving truck.  So many friends were there to help her – very few of them knew how she had suffered over the years, but the Lord knew.  God knew all about it, and He was with her, even when she didn’t feel it, even when she didn’t know it, even when she was too ashamed to even pray.  The Lord was there and helping her and protecting her from worse harm.  The Lord had a plan and He was leading her day by day.

Glorie Christos and her children moved into their new apartment and the peace was so tangible.  No more walking on eggshells.  No more criticism.  No more fear.  No more worrying about what might happen next.  No more hiding.  No more shrinking.  

Her phone rang the next day.  “Hello, this is Glorie Christos.”

“Good morning, Glorie Christos.  This is Mr. Fernando at the agency.  We would like to offer you the job!  How soon can you start?”

“The job!  The job!  Thank you, Mr. Fernando, I can start on Monday!  Thank you!”  Glorie Christos could not hide her excitement and began to laugh when the phone call ended.

“Lord Jesus, thank You! You are working all things together for our good and for Your glory!” And Glorie Christos grabbed the children and hugged them and the tears flowed for the goodness of God to remember the plight of their family, to make a way out of the wilderness, to roll away the stones and to give her a hope and a future.

The Lord strengthened Glorie Christos to do her work faithfully everyday.  God began the long work of healing her heart.  Her divorce was finalized a year later.  She was thankful, but she often wondered, “Why? Why did I have to go through all of that?  What was the point?  What was the purpose of  it all?  So much pain, so much fear, so much suffering for me and for the children; in fact, my whole family has suffered because of domestic abuse and neglect and sin. Lord, why?  Where is the purpose in this?”

It took a very long time for Glorie Christos to get answers to those prayers. 

She tried to live a thankful and peaceful life, trusting that Jesus was with her and would never leave her.  She found a church that had friendly people and attended regularly, but with a nagging feeling that something just wasn’t right.  Even though she was happy and free from Big Man, she still suffered from nightmares and was easily triggered by loud, angry voices she sometimes heard in the parking lot of her apartment building.  Sleeping was often a problem.

“What’s wrong with me?” Glorie Christos asked her new therapist one day.  “I can fall asleep pretty good because I am exhausted at night, but I wake up at 3:30 in the morning every night.  It’s the same time every night.  I am so tired.”

Her therapist wisely asked, “What time did Big Man used to wake you up in the night for his serious conversations?”

Glorie Christos thought for a few moments and remembered that it was always around 3:30 in the morning.  “That’s it!  My body thinks it still has to be ready for anything at that time of the night.”

“Yes,” agreed the therapist.  “I think you are having some of the symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because of the abuse you suffered, Glorie Christos.”

“Oh, PTSD.  I’ve heard of that!  I thought only veterans had that trouble.”

“Yes, some veterans of the military and some veterans of domestic abuse.”

Glorie Christos was relieved that she had a diagnosis and could receive some help for those problems, but she still mostly trusted in Jesus for all healing.  And yet, when she was at church, she felt uncomfortable, unworthy, out of place. 

Chaplain’s Note:  The trauma of domestic abuse doesn’t just end when we walk away.  Even if we begin a new life, there are still deep wounds.  Some hurts heal fairly quickly, but some of the memories and psychological attacks impact us for a long, long time. We may be scarred for life as they say. If this is your story, be patient with yourself.  Healing is coming.  God is faithful.

“…by His stripes we are healed.”   Isaiah 53:5

“He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”  Psalm 147:3

“O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.”  Psalm 30:2

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