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)
Author: Shari
Loving Yourself Is Not Sin
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
Wedding Planning and Grief
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
Deconstruction and Gatekeeping
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
Leaving the Pro-life Movement
Growing Up Pro-life When I was a little girl, my parents ensured that I knew what it meant to honour the sanctity of life. I don't even remember when I first learned about what abortion was; I just always knew that it was wrong and it was murder. Zero exceptions. When I grew up a … Continue reading Leaving the Pro-life Movement
You Are Worthy Of Love (Transcript)
You can find the audio for this transcript over on Spotify. ___ You Are Worthy Of Love You are worthy of love. Our conservative subculture worked so hard so that we wouldn’t and couldn’t know just how worthy of love we are. They told us that we were desperately wicked. They told us that we … Continue reading You Are Worthy Of Love (Transcript)
Your Body Is Your Own Transcript
You can find the audio for this podcast on Spotify Your Body Is Your Own Your body is yours, and no one else’s. I don’t know about you, but the longer I am away from evangelicalism, the more it strikes me how much freedom I have in my own body. To choose what to wear, … Continue reading Your Body Is Your Own Transcript
Your Doubts Are Important Transcript
You can find the audio for this podcast episode on Spotify Your Doubts Are Important Your doubts are important. We were part of a world where doubts were unwelcome. Our teachers, our pastors, even our own parents were used to being in positions of authority over us. They were used to us accepting whatever they … Continue reading Your Doubts Are Important Transcript
God Sees You Podcast Transcript
You can find the audio for this podcast episode on Spotify. God Sees You In todays episode, I want to encourage you with this thought: God sees you. God tells the Prophet Samuel that he doesn’t look at outward appearances like men do. God goes deeper and sees into the heart. For those of us … Continue reading God Sees You Podcast Transcript
Shari A Smith 