Running on Faith (And Coffee)
On a recent episode of my new podcast, Survivors Discuss, I mentioned something about my own psychology that had plagued me for years: the inability to trust my own intuition. No matter what the topic or issue at hand was, if someone had an opinion other than mine, I would immediately dismiss my own thoughts … Continue reading Learning To Trust My Intuition
A year ago, I was finishing up my wedding dress fittings and finalizing the details for the day I would promise the rest of my life to my love. He wasn't the man I was supposed to marry. But he was the man I fell in love with, and he gave me everything I never … Continue reading They Told Me To Find A Love
If you know me, you are probably already aware that I am estranged from my parents. Aside from a brief message here or there, I have not spoken with my parents in more than 4 years. It's been a painful journey for me that started years before I made that decision and the healing process … Continue reading What Adult Children Estranged From Their Parents Wished People Could Understand
This blog post was originally published on the Ezer Rising Blog in March 2022 Many conservative Christians have been falsely taught to believe that if we can memorize the right facts or know all the right things, our souls will be saved. Further, we were taught to believe that if we can teach others to … Continue reading They Will Know Us By Our Love
https://youtu.be/spTluXjtUdY Shame tells you that you are different. Shame tells you that there is something fundamentally wrong with you. Shame tells you that you have to hide so that no one knows how broken you are. Shame tells you that no one will love you as you are. Shame tells you that you will never … Continue reading Shame Is A Liar
Content Warnings for Discussion of untreated/unmanaged mental illness, suicide, and domestic violence "Am I allowed to end a relationship with an abusive person even if they have unmanaged mental illness?" This was a question I posted on Facebook nearly a decade ago to a select group of trusted friends. I grew up in a culture … Continue reading Mental Illness and Abuse in Christianity
There is such a thing as healthy religion and healthy Christianity. But for so many of us, we experienced something else. Toxic faith. High control Christianity. Religious abuse. We had our agency stripped from us. We internalized lies about our worth and our place in this world. Women, in particular, were preyed upon and groomed … Continue reading Breaking Free (Video)
REPOSTED FROM THE ARCHIVES: May 17, 2019 A few days ago, while looking through my memories on Facebook, I saw an old post of mine. In this post, I was talking about how, at the time, I genuinely believed that I was unlovable. I saw myself as someone who didn't deserve love or companionship because … Continue reading Loving Yourself Is Not Sin
Photo by Jeremy Wong on Pexels.com My wedding day was beautiful. I was surrounded by family and friends. I felt loved. I felt supported. I held back my tears as I spoke my vows to the love of my life and we slipped rings on one another’s fingers. I smiled so much that whole day … Continue reading Wedding Planning and Grief
Many of you saw this tweet this week from author Rachel Joy Welcher: I do not intend to make this a call-out post against Rachel because, really, there is nothing unique about this post. It is merely one person, out of a whole sea of people, who believes that there is a right way and … Continue reading Deconstruction and Gatekeeping
Shari A Smith 