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Women’s Retreat in Germany

Date: October 07 - October 09

marydemuth

Grateful for @ruthnyt and @nytimes for reporting o

Grateful for @ruthnyt and @nytimes for reporting on the spate of pastoral scandals in DFW mega churches of late. Grateful to play a small part in the story with a little tomfoolery added in. 🙂

All joshing aside, I do believe this reckoning is important. It’s God’s way of pulling back the curtain on abusive, underhanded, criminal, and sinful church leadership. I won’t be surprised (sadly) if there is more unveiling in the days to come.

Leaders in the church are human, yes, but their office carries weight. It’s high time we valued that responsibility. It’s time for boards to hold their leaders to a life of humble repentance, authenticity, service, and reverence (including a strong fear of God). I believe God will hold responsible those in positions of leadership who failed to act (as in the case of Gateway’s board).

And may there be ways for small folks like you and me to raise concerns and be heard.

Any leader who hides, is a predator, harms their staff, lives above the law, or embezzles should be brought to account. But in that process, we must be humble and careful to examine ourselves, less we too fall into the same pit.

My assistant @christenkrumm showed me an account w

My assistant @christenkrumm showed me an account where someone drew their meals, and I instantly loved the idea. My friend @triciagoyer has been on a health journey, too, so as I prepare for a possible sabbatical I wanted to do something life giving and fun.

So I’m drawing what I eat, and I’m recording my movement as a form of joyful accountability. I’m really enjoying drawing and coloring food!

What kind of things are you doing (that are fun and life giving) as you pursue your health?

In Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing after Sexu

In Not Marked: Finding Hope and Healing after Sexual Abuse, I illuminate the way to go from shame-filled to joy-filled, from traumatized to finding enduring peace.

This isn’t theory. I have lived it. I've traveled this path and offer a uniquely qualified, insider’s view of the healing process.

Then I go deeper—because often you’re not the only one who has suffered. My husband Patrick comes alongside me and offers insights into how spouses can love a sexual abuse victim toward wholeness, and how this will bring your relationship a whole new level of strength.

Not Marked will help you:
· Find the courage to share your story—maybe for the first time.
· Stop comparing your brokenness to others' wholeness.
· Understand the specific way God designed you to heal.
· Identify safe people to entrust your healing journey to.
· Embrace utter honesty about your abuse, even if that means anger toward God.
· Discover how prayer helps you move from angst to alleluia.
· Find the powerful antidote to bitterness.
· Let go of accusatory thought patterns and grasp God’s affection for you.
· Uncover an ancient pathway to healing.
· Live the effervescent life you’ve longed for but could never quite grasp.

You do not have to be forever marked by sexual abuse.

You are resilient even if you believe all your strength is gone. You are worthy of being made whole—even if you can’t believe it’s possible. And you are a stunning work of amazingness—even though your heart can’t even start to grasp that. Yet.

This is your time. The moment to start the journey of the unmarked life!

Get a copy of Not Marked — wherever books are sold.

#notmarked #itendswithus #abusesurvivor

Come take an evening walk with me in my autumn gar

Come take an evening walk with me in my autumn garden. So grateful for a yard still blooming. It brings me hope and makes me smile.

What brings you joy today?

You know when a verse just stands out to you all o

You know when a verse just stands out to you all of a sudden? That happened recently when someone read part of our Scripture passage at church. This is the verse:

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice” (Ephesians 4:31).

The word that stuck out to me was clamor, so I looked it up on Strong’s concordance: Kraugē connotes loud noise, great emotion, and crying. In this case Paul uses it in connection with relationships. We should not be boisterous; our conversations should be peaceful.

However, I wondered if I could also apply this to the way I treat myself? I mean, after all, my relationship with myself is my longest standing relationship!

What would it mean to refrain from clamor in my head? What would it look like for me to let go of my anger toward myself? My hollering at my insecurities? My wrath toward my own woundedness?

The older I get, the more I realize just how damning these angry internal voices are, and the more I see how I need to quell them, speaking kindly to myself. After all, I am human (as are you!). I will never live up to my expectations. I certainly won’t live up to biblical expectations, though I certainly try.

This last weekend one of our pastors said something that really struck me. We don’t need Jesus as a standard of behavior—we need a savior. In other words, Jesus didn’t exist to show us the impossibility of how far we fall short (though we do) and then berate ourselves or make ourselves try harder. No, he lived that perfect life to show us our need for him.

I’m reminded of these haunting words Jesus said in the upper room discourse: “For apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

You cannot un-clamor myself on your own. Only Jesus can.

You cannot live a godly life by your wits—only in surrendering to Jesus can you grow and be sustained and graced.

My prayer for you today is that Jesus will empower you to be exceedingly kind to yourself today. That you would begin, with his help, to treat yourself as kindly as you would a dear friend. (And I’ll take some prayer for this as well!)

I shared my story twice last week in Colorado—to

I shared my story twice last week in Colorado—to a group of women in prison, and a congregation of church women. And I’m sharing it again today for our community group @redeemerrockwall. While it’s a difficult story, I’m always amazed at God’s ability to restore the utterly broken.

This painting is a redo for an upcoming surrender devotional with @ivpress. I’m really excited about that book being put in the world next year.

Why is it hard for us to surrender difficult memories, do you think?

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