There, I've said it

[Florence]

I have diabetes. I take 5 medications a day for it. More and more I find myself thinking about those bottles and how, if I didn't have children still living at home . . .

One of the verses I try to live by is I Cor. 3:16 "Do you not know, dear Christian, that you are a temple of the living God and that His Spirit dwells in you?" Well, if the other "Christians" in my life are temples of the living God, He certainly doesn't think much of me . . .

I read the posts of people who are harrassed by their former pastors and church leaders - how I envy you. How I would love for my phone to ring or an email to show up in my inbox. I'm not even worth the effort.

Florence

[Savedbygrace]

I have diabetes. I take 5 medications a day for it. More and more I find myself thinking about those bottles and how, if I didn't have children still living at home . . .

One of the verses I try to live by is I Cor. 3:16 "Do you not know, dear Christian, that you are a temple of the living God and that His Spirit dwells in you?" Well, if the other "Christians" in my life are temples of the living God, He certainly doesn't think much of me . . .

I read the posts of people who are harrassed by their former pastors and church leaders - how I envy you. How I would love for my phone to ring or an email to show up in my inbox. I'm not even worth the effort.

Florence

Florence,

I can feel how deep your pain is. I am so sorry you are feeling this way. Despair is a horrible place, I have been there many times. I hope you can separate the lack of love and compassion shown to you by man from the love that God has for you. He loves you like you were his only child. He longs for you to come to him with your hurt. He will someday wipe away all of our tears. I wsh that day were today, but it is not. There are people out there that can show you the love of Christ, -but the leaders of your church are not them. This is not your fault. They sound self-consumed, unable to see or feel for another's pain. That is THEIR issue, and not a reflection of your self-worth. God has a reason for your existence here. He wants to bring you through this storm. He wants you to feel his love for you. When you pass through this space you are in, and you see it from the other side (and there is another side) He will bless you richly. Then maybe you can use your experience to help someone else going through a similar storm or struggle.

He loves you and so do I. I would be heart broken to lose you.

Trish

[Jerry]

How I would love for my phone to ring or an email to show up in my inbox. I'm not even worth the effort.

Florence

Dear Florence,,,
I have taken the liberty of correcting a typo I found in your post,as follows; "How I would love for my phone to ring or an email to show up in my inbox.That Church isn't worth the effort,guess I'll find a Church that is a Church."Sometimes when we get tired that kind of "Typo" is easy to make ;)
Love Jerry

[Florence]

Jerry,
You're right - you always have a way of putting things into perspective. Thank you.

Florence

[diva]

Florence --
I can identify with your pain. There were a couple of folks who stuck by me when I left (was forced out) my old church. Now that the proverbial stuff has hit the fan in that church and everyone knows what was happening, I find there many more who contend they supported me all along. Too bad, they didn't and it was their loss. That's not to say I wouldn't gladly support them as they wrestle with the demons they will surely face as they realize that they, too, were abused.
We all have to find support and the human embodiment of God's grace where we can and I suspect this forum is a good place for that. I will keep you in my prayers.

[Voyager]

When I first left my former abusive church in 1998, no one tried to contact me. After I began speaking out about the abuse, they probably wished I would die. None of them ever tried contacting me.

In 2001 when a bunch of folks escaped the church (over 100 people), I started a website forum for the victims of the group. It had around 80 members, and we all started posting about the abuse and atrocities committed by the pastor. This gave us a platform to defend ourselves against that name-calling and judgement coming from the pulpit against the former members. We even ran an ad in the local newspaper about the website, which had the whole town talking. A few people from the church got on the forum and started fighting with us. It was a pleasure to be able to ban them from the forum :D

Other than that, I haven't had anyone try to track me down. I was wondering there for a while if it was my former pastor on here attacking my posts. I still wonder about that.

:cool:

[Jerry]

Jerry,
You're right - you always have a way of putting things into perspective. Thank you.

Florence
Florence,,,,,,,,,,,Love your new Avatar!!!!!!Your a real "Babe" :D
Love Jerry

[Florence]

Thanks Jerry! I think I overheard our mommies talking about getting us together for a play date! Or maybe it was our Daddy . . .
Florence