8 January 2024

When I was young, musician Steve Camp performed a song that had the following line in it:

“I want to run a mission a yard from the gates of hell; let’s run to the battle.”

To my juvenile mind, exposed to spy or war movies and mystery stories, “running a mission” was being sent on a task with an activity to complete. In my naá¯veté, I thought it would be exciting and I wanted to volunteer for something like that. Sure, I was willing to go repeatedly to the front lines, especially since I know home was always safely removed from the battle. Fast-forward to adulthood and the realization that the mission referred to in the song is actually a permanent location or an outpost with resources for people to come to as a refuge.

Wait - Steve was talking about making a home three feet away from hell? What was he thinking?! Rescue. Redemption. Restoration. Renewal. Worth. Purpose. I believe that God is still calling me out of my comfort zone and into deeper waters, thus the beginning of my mentoring ministry. I have lived inside of my own personal hellish landscape for decades. I know what it is like to walk on eggshells; to anticipate another’s needs while disregarding my own; to have no opinion or to conform because my thoughts wouldn’t be heard anyway; to not know how to intervene to protect a child from a parent due to fear of the outcome for saying ‘no’; to feel my very sanity slipping away because the burdens and decisions and pressures and expectations are all too much.

You need to know something incredibly important. 

There is safety.

There is healing.

There is hope.

This is not a journey to tackle solo. You are not alone. Sure, some days feel that way - intensely so - but you are not alone. It would be an honor to walk alongside you as you process what has happened and where you want to go. As your mentor, we will work as a team. We will lay a foundation of who we are in Christ first and foremost. From there, we’ll use targeted materials to keep reinforcing who we are: dearly loved, cherished, honored, favored, daughters of God, who are being formed into the likeness of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Sheri Keffer has this to say about grace: “First let me start by saying what grace is not. Grace is not forgetting or ignoring. Grace isn’t appropriate when someone continues to deceptively and compulsively sexually act out against you. Grace is not appropriate when someone is dishonoring or abusing you. If these things are happening it’s not the time to extend grace, it’s time to focus on getting safe.

“Extending grace to someone means that you begin to process the pain of betrayal in a new light. Grace is not a one and done experience, nor is there a fast track for this process. When we enter into extending grace to the one who betrayed us, we begin by relinquishing what we feel we’re owed. It means we forfeit the upper hand, give up resentment, and surrender wanting to take revenge against someone that deeply hurt you. Grace involves the act of extending mercy to someone who caused us harm through an act of letting go.” [https://www.braveone.com/queen-of-denial]

It would be a privilege to walk alongside you as you go through hell and emerge victorious on the other side. It is possible. It will simply take some time and support to get through.

Federal Way, WA 98023