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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Guest Blogger ... Mary DeMuth

Praying for those who stole

Those of you familiar with me or my story know this: at five, two neighborhood boys spent their free time abusing me. Under trees. In their room. In ravines. In parks.

I'm grateful, so grateful, that I don't suffer flashbacks anymore. I'm glad their yearlong actions no longer inform how I live my life. They tried to break me, but Jesus healed so many broken, awful, raw places. They meant harm, but now I'm free.

But sometimes, like right now, I think about where they are, how they are, what their lives are like. I've spent fruitless time on the internet trying to track them down, half from curiosity, half from pity. But I can't quite find them. Which is fine by me. It's not like I'd want to email one of them and say, "Hey, do you remember the year 1972? Remember our neighborhood? Remember me?"

Because what good would that do? Would it bring closure for me? Probably not. Because if statistics are correct, they will have never been brought to justice. They could be hiding this secret their entire lives. They could be tortured. Or wildly successful. They could have families. They could be perpetrators. They could be liars, or as honest as honest can be. They can be politicians, school teachers, gardeners.

A part of me does want them to remember what they did, if only for the purpose of realizing their own depravity and seeing their need (as I've seen mine) for a savior. And if statistics play out, the reason they perpetrated is probably because they were perpetrated against, which means those boys (now men) need deep, cleansing healing. In every possible way.

I do pray for them. I do think about them. But not with an ache for myself. I ache for them. For the men they've become. Perhaps they are haunted.

Perhaps they are reading this post right now.

__________________________

Author and speaker Mary DeMuth helps people turn their trials to triumph. Her books include Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God, Building the Christian Family You Never Had, Watching the Tree Limbs, Wishing on Dandelions, Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture and the first two books in the Defiance Texas Trilogy: Daisy Chain and A Slow Burn. Mary lives with her husband Patrick and their three children in Texas. Find out more at www.marydemuth.com.
TP
About Thin Places: In this moving spiritual memoir-Thin Places-Mary DeMuth traces the winding path of thin places in her life, places where she experienced longing and healing more intensely than before. From surviving abuse as a latchkey kid to discovering a heavenly Father who never leaves, Mary's story invites you to a deeper understanding of your own story. She calls you to discover new ways to look for God in the past so that you might experience him more profoundly in the present. What if you could retrace your life and discover its thin places-places where the division between this world and the eternal fades? You can purchase Thin Places, {HERE}.

Do you have your own secret you need to share or perhaps you can encourage someone who is suffering - please visit My Family Secrets.

If you want to know more about Mary you can listen to Margaret's interview with her on Kitchen Chat {HERE}.

posted by Margaret McSweeney @ 6:30 AM

1 Comments:

At May 26, 2010 2:07 PM , Anonymous margaret said...

Thank you, Mary, for sharing the grit from your painful past so others can see God's amazing grace in your life right now!

 

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