DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AWARENESS MONTH: FREE BOOKS!
Because October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, I will be offering free Kindle downloads of both my books for the first five days of the month.
Here are links to each:
THROUGH MY EYES: Overcoming the Emotional Injury of an Abusive Relationship
and
BREAKING THE CHAINS: Overcoming the Spiritual Abuse of a False Gospel
Offering hope and inspiration to others by sharing my journey is a far greater reward than any financial compensation I could receive. But Amazon only allows me to give the books away periodically. I thought this was a great time because domestic abuse and violence are such hot topics in the news at this moment. Allstate is also doing a Purple Purse campaign (www.purplepurse.com) to focus attention on the financial abuse that holds so many women captive in abusive relationships.
I was contacted last week about attending a luncheon in connection with the Allstate Purple Purse initiative next month and I of course accepted the invitation. When I hung up the phone, though, the first thought I had was that I had not personally experienced financial abuse. And then I remembered the financial bullying and intimidation; the threats of "You'll get nothing if it's the last thing I ever do," bank accounts being closed, being cut off from any financial resources, cash denied, having to wait five months for a court date to mandate spousal support during the divorce process. And my ex-husband was, at that time, making hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. I'll never forget him telling a judge that he HAD to have BOTH a brand new full size truck and a Lexus to drive. But when I had asked for cash to buy gas and food, I was refused and told that my dad (who I was living with) wouldn't let me starve.
Interesting, isn't it, how an abused woman will diminish abuse in her own mind? Even years later. Those who have experienced it know exactly what I'm talking about.
We are hearing so much about domestic abuse right now. The only thing that bothers me is how focused all discussion is on the NFL and Commissioner Goodell. It's important that domestic violence is handled appropriately in the NFL. But this discussion cannot be all about the NFL.
Football (no matter how violent the sport is) doesn't create an abuser. Abusers are everywhere. And sometimes you would never imagine how they behave behind closed doors based upon your impression of them in social settings. This includes church settings because abusers are drawn to environments where men are the recipients of trust, respect and authority simply by virtue of being male.
With God's help, I will be speaking about the role religion sometimes plays in keeping women trapped in abuse at our WRC Candlelight Vigil, October 11. It certainly played a role in my feelings of hopelessness. I believed God would be mad at me if I left.
I have a few hopes for this free giveaway. I hope many of you will read one or both of my books. I hope you'll be glad you invested time in learning and understanding how it feels to be spiritually, verbally, mentally, emotionally or physically abused. I hope my story will enlighten you to red flags so you can avoid an abusive relationship. I hope my story will help you be a better friend to wounded survivors. I hope my story will inspire self-awareness and insight. I hope you will relate to me and feel less alone in your struggles, even if you have never been abused (because there's so much more than abuse in my books). Selfishly, I hope a few of you will review the books on Amazon after reading, if you've found them helpful. And even if you didn't, I'm open to constructive criticism.
Most of all, I hope my life will point you to Jesus and the promise of Romans 8:28.
Here are links to each:
THROUGH MY EYES: Overcoming the Emotional Injury of an Abusive Relationship
and
BREAKING THE CHAINS: Overcoming the Spiritual Abuse of a False Gospel
Offering hope and inspiration to others by sharing my journey is a far greater reward than any financial compensation I could receive. But Amazon only allows me to give the books away periodically. I thought this was a great time because domestic abuse and violence are such hot topics in the news at this moment. Allstate is also doing a Purple Purse campaign (www.purplepurse.com) to focus attention on the financial abuse that holds so many women captive in abusive relationships.
I was contacted last week about attending a luncheon in connection with the Allstate Purple Purse initiative next month and I of course accepted the invitation. When I hung up the phone, though, the first thought I had was that I had not personally experienced financial abuse. And then I remembered the financial bullying and intimidation; the threats of "You'll get nothing if it's the last thing I ever do," bank accounts being closed, being cut off from any financial resources, cash denied, having to wait five months for a court date to mandate spousal support during the divorce process. And my ex-husband was, at that time, making hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. I'll never forget him telling a judge that he HAD to have BOTH a brand new full size truck and a Lexus to drive. But when I had asked for cash to buy gas and food, I was refused and told that my dad (who I was living with) wouldn't let me starve.
Interesting, isn't it, how an abused woman will diminish abuse in her own mind? Even years later. Those who have experienced it know exactly what I'm talking about.
We are hearing so much about domestic abuse right now. The only thing that bothers me is how focused all discussion is on the NFL and Commissioner Goodell. It's important that domestic violence is handled appropriately in the NFL. But this discussion cannot be all about the NFL.
Football (no matter how violent the sport is) doesn't create an abuser. Abusers are everywhere. And sometimes you would never imagine how they behave behind closed doors based upon your impression of them in social settings. This includes church settings because abusers are drawn to environments where men are the recipients of trust, respect and authority simply by virtue of being male.
With God's help, I will be speaking about the role religion sometimes plays in keeping women trapped in abuse at our WRC Candlelight Vigil, October 11. It certainly played a role in my feelings of hopelessness. I believed God would be mad at me if I left.
I have a few hopes for this free giveaway. I hope many of you will read one or both of my books. I hope you'll be glad you invested time in learning and understanding how it feels to be spiritually, verbally, mentally, emotionally or physically abused. I hope my story will enlighten you to red flags so you can avoid an abusive relationship. I hope my story will help you be a better friend to wounded survivors. I hope my story will inspire self-awareness and insight. I hope you will relate to me and feel less alone in your struggles, even if you have never been abused (because there's so much more than abuse in my books). Selfishly, I hope a few of you will review the books on Amazon after reading, if you've found them helpful. And even if you didn't, I'm open to constructive criticism.
Most of all, I hope my life will point you to Jesus and the promise of Romans 8:28.
Comments
Faith Brady @ Khunter Law
Jerry Brady @ LambertAndWilliams