The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing

Please note that I deactivated links for organizations that I do not have specific permission for links, but you can still cut and paste addresses. National Coalition Against Domestic Violence Email: mainoffice@ncadv.org Hotlines:1.800.799.SAFE (7233) and 1.800.787.3224 (TTY) Website: http://www.ncadv.org domesticshelters.org https://www.domesticshelters.org   Find  a shelter anywhere in the country and access dozens, hundreds of articles on survivors stories and all aspects of coping with domestic violence. Some local Portland area resources for help for coping with domestic violence (all found on domesticshelters.org): The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence Services -- business phone: 503-988-6400 website: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/gatewaycenter/ Portland Women's Crisis Line -- hotline: 503-235-5333 website: http://pwcl.org VOA Home Free -- hotline: 503-771-5503 website: http://www.voaor.org/children-and-family Bradley Angle House  -- ...

A woman enters the house of Simon, the Pharisee, and washes Jesus’ feet with her tears and dries them with her hair while he dines.  Her story is told in the Gospel of Luke (7:36-50). Simon remarks to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman is touching him, that she is a sinner.” Jesus hears Simon and rebukes him with a parable about two debtors owing money to the creditor.  The creditor forgives both debts.  Jesus asks Simon which debtor is more grateful.  Simon correctly understands that the debtor owing more money is more grateful.  The parable is normally understood to illustrate the power of God’s forgiveness of sin.  As a survivor of sexual abuse, I think there is an untold story in this Bible passage -- the story of Jesus’ feeling special compassion for the losses and pain endured by abuse survivors. Many people assume that the sinful woman is a prostitute.  Her sin of sex outside marriage makes her...

by Virginia Pickles I find metaphors for healing all around me.  Walking in nature slows me down and gives me time to contemplate and meditate.  The beauty of the place and the moment soothe me and uplift me.  One of the most inspiring places I love to walk near Portland, Oregon, is Smith and Bybee Lakes. More than two hundred years ago when Lewis and Clark and the Corp of Discovery paddled canoes by here on the Columbia River, there were no levies, no roads, no warehouses, no electrical lines -- just acres and acres of wetland.  The Columbia River flooded the seasonal lakes in winter.  By September, sun and summer drought left behind swaths of cracked mud along their edges.  Fish and Tree Frogs and the Western Painted Pond Turtles thrived in the virgin landscape.  Native grasses grew around the shores.  Rushes and sedges grew in the shallows.  Mule Deer and Pronghorn Antelope came to browse the grasses and brush and to sip water a...

I am a survivor of sex abuse as a child and date rape as a young adult.  My whole life has been occupied with coming to terms with these wounds and learning healthy coping skills to heal them.  One of the symptoms of abuse that I struggle with is outbursts of anger.  One coping skill I am learning to rely on to heal myself is gardening.  Gardening lifts me up from seas of sadness and calms me through storms of anger. Anger is one of the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Survivors of child abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence often suffer from PTSD just as combat veterans do.  Anger is a normal part of the healing process, but if we inflict our anger on others, we can also ruin our relationships with friends and family and cause problems for ourselves at work and school.  While anger over abuse inspires us to fight for justice, we need to channel and control our anger so we don't harm ourselves or others. People who express ...

Theresa's Fund and its offspring, domesticshelters.org , are what happens when marketing executives decide to spend their spare time combatting abuse. Google  domesticshelters.org and you will find it has not only a website , but a Twitter account , a Facebook account , a Pinterest account, and an Instagram account .  Peruse the website, and you will find that they also have a You Tube account.  The domesticshelters.org , the Facebook page , and the Twitter are all updated regularly with thoughtful articles about abuse.  The website also includes a data base of domestic violence shelters and related services around the country and information domestic violence victims need to know to keep themselves safe. This media outreach to survivors, advocates, and the community at large, is the brain child of two content marketing executives -- Preston V. McMurry Jr. and his son, Chris McMurry. According to the website of the Content Marketing Institu...