Physical abuse is often imagined as bruises, broken bones, or visible injuries. Yet many women live in homes where violence is expressed through intimidation, destruction, and fear—without a single hand ever being laid on them. A slammed door, a fist through the wall, a shattered plate, or a blocked exit can speak volumes. These acts…
Financial Abuse occurs in 99% of domestic violence cases.
After her escape from Big Man, Little Wife filled her days with job hunting, apartment searching and driving her children to school and their activities, trying to keep life for the children as normal as possible, all things considered. There was so much to consider and many life details to be worked out. They stayed…
One Sunday morning, Little Wife and Big Man went to their church. He gripped her hand tightly as they walked in and smiled brightly at the worshipers greeting them at the door. “Good morning! Good morning! Yes, isn’t it a fine spring morning! Praise the Lord for Sundays in the house of God.” Little Wife…
On Monday, the Lord took away all of Little Wife’s cravings for drinking white wine, pink wine, red wine and everything else she drank for years. She looked at the bottles of wine and felt nothing for them, no desire, no anticipation, no comfort, not even a passing interest. She did not tell Big Man….
This original poem by our friend, Janet Blessing, addresses the dilemma of whether to talk with our children, our pastors, our church friends about the abuse, the pain, the hurt, the sin infesting our home. STILL GRIEVING of all I’d put my children through; of all I’d done to me– but worst of all, the…
Joan woke up in the morning with heaviness on her heart. “Another day, another problem,” she thought. It seemed like every day there was another mountain to climb, hurdles to jump, and barriers to get around. She could not make sense of her relationship with Tom. One minute he appeared sensitive to her feelings and…
Anyone who mentions the words domestic violence automatically thinks of the various forms of physical abuse which are visible to the naked eye. Below the surface of those wounds though is a crushed heart and a remnant of an image bearer of God. Often in the Christian community the devastation of verbal and emotional abuse…
Here we are in October again… I remember October 2021, my first full month as the National Chaplain for FOCUS Ministries, I was blessed to have 19 counseling calls with women across the country who were suffering from domestic abuse. I thought to myself, “Wow, there are so many women who need to hear the…
Relationships are supposed to be fun and fulfilling and full of love. That was God’s original plan. First with our family and our friends, then as romantic dating partners and then as married people, we were originally meant to be kind and loving and patient and full of grace and mercy towards the people in…