What does it mean to be silent or silenced? Has someone or something caused you to feel shame, worry, anxiety, or depression? Have you been thinking, should I . . . ? Sometimes it seems easier to hold it in for fear of judgement, but maybe it is finally time to open up. When we hold space for one another, we create a platform to speak up and converse about mental health, injustice, trauma, and being silenced--the lessons shared within these pages come with surprising gratitude. She's No Longer Silent is a collection of stories written by women who have found their strength by overcoming trauma and tuning into their intuition. Explore the raw and honest experiences of women who wish to assist you in discovering the unimaginable strength and courage within you. It is time to escape your turmoil and take back your life.
The story of Jesus of Nazareth has been called "the greatest story ever told," but what role do women play in that story? In No Longer Silent, author Susan Dehn Matthews attempts to highlight the women in the Gospels and provide the background behind those important women. Matthews starts by noting that women in the Gospels were deliberately disempowered in order to maintain their presumed dependence, both in Scripture and in society. She then goes to the give voice to the minds and hearts of the women of the gospels who have been marginalized or ignored altogether. As she writes, "Each women whose story is recounted here is remarkable precisely because, through the power of an encounter with Jesus, she discovered within herself the Divine energy that allowed her to offer her unique gift to the world." Some of the women Matthews writes about include: Elizabeth, Mary of Nazareth, Mary at the Wedding of Cana, The widowed mother of Nain, The woman accused, The mother of James and John, The sisters of Lazarus, The wife of Pilate, Mary Magdalene, and Joanna.
One in three women is a victim of sexual abuse before they turn 19. This could be the story of your friend or neighbour, your parent or your lover. This might be your story. This is the life story of Tammy Gagnon. Tammy left home at 14, fleeing an incestuous childhood. Running from guilt and shame too overwhelming for any little girl, Tammy experienced further betrayal and feelings of worthlessness, suffering from additional sexual assaults on her young body. Turning to alcohol and drugs numbed the pain for short periods. After years of attempting to numb the pain this resulted in more questions than answers. "Why didn't I tell? Why me? Why can't I cry? What is wrong with me?" She was out of control and destructive. She ended up in prison. How does a young woman battle back from the edge to thrive with a new life? How did she stop blaming herself and overcome such a challenging childhood? At great cost, Tammy is finally ready to end the silence and speak her truth, as she never has before. She shares her journey from horror to that of one she is grateful and happier than ever before. Tammy Gagnon is on a mission to help others claim their voices and speak their truth. Tammy shares her journey and life lessons about forgiveness and rebuilding ... of learning to love herself wholly, and to overcome the darkness of her past with a new message of love and light for all. That Tammy made it out alive is a miracle. That her story is inspiring others to find their voices and claim healthier lives is Tammy's greatest blessing. Tammy Gagnon is grateful to have survived years of pain and horror. When not writing and helping others find their voice. Tammy thrives in Virginia where she lives happily as a mother and grandmother, treasuring every moment with her family and furry friend, Karma.
Trauma has a way of turning people into the walking dead... "I cannot tell you the exact moment that the slow progression towards the death of my innocent childhood began, but somewhere in those years between three and five, I gradually lost my voice and sense of identity. My home life was chaotic and unpredictable. Glimpses of the unspeakable, like shadows, refused to come into the light. My world was filled with those who sought to silence me.. So I just stopped speaking up. Things seemed blurred in so many ways...memories, thoughts. All I knew was to hide inside myself. My inner conscience locked all the painful hidden trauma away until much later when it came to light through my journey of discovery. I couldn't remember the details of the abuse I suffered back then, and it would take years for me to consciously deal with it, when God slowly began to reveal the truth about my sexual abuse." Amanda Helman's raw and emotionally transparent retelling of her journey through the darkness of abuse and rejection draws you into her world. The pain that left her silent and, unable to find her voice eventually shattered as the light of truth burst through and she was finally Silent No Longer.
This book is about the author�s autobiographical journey. She was a little girl who was sexually abused at an early age. Labeled selective mute and experiencing sex so frequent at 7 it was a part of life. Sexually active at 11. Prostitution, sex and porn addiction at 21. Living life by sexual desire even into marriage. Elizabeth never thought she'd ever be okay with coming out of the silence that held her in bondage for decades. Therapist and school teachers alike, told her she�d never speak out about the things that happened to her. Many of her leaders told her she wasn�t good enough due to her strong personality. Therefore she lived her whole life in lies hiding her true identity. When the journey seemed darkest there was always light. The dark moments may have left scars, but the light produced greater things still yet to unfold.
When Serena Dyksen heard the news that over 2,200 babies remains were found on the property of abortion doctor Ulrich George Klopfer, her whole body went numb from shock. She began to sob tears of grief. Is my baby one of those remains? she questioned. Dr. Klopfer performed her abortion when she was just thirteen years old. Just months before, Serena had decided to share her abortion story. After watching one of the last scenes in the pro-life movie Unplanned, she felt it was time to share the hope and healing God had done in her life. Serenas story reads like a traumatic tale: a childhood of dysfunction, rape, abortion at thirteen years old, a pregnant teenager at the age of sixteen, health issues, and a devastating event that led her to alcohol and drug abuse. But in her book, She Found His Grace: A True Story of Hope, Love and Forgiveness After Abortion, Serena reveals the transforming power of Gods healing in her life that set her completely free. She now finds comfort from Genesis 50:20 (ESV): As for me, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. Serena wants everyone who reads her book to know that she walks in freedom because of the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyone needs to walk through the healing process of their past abortion, no matter what the circumstances, she testifies. If you dont, you will be walking through deception, pain, and all the bondage that goes with that. But the same God who sent people to show His love for me is the same God who will redeem your life too! Headlines of Dr. Ulrich Klopfers evil highlights the horrors of the abortion industry, but Serenas testimony overshadows that darkness with the truth of God's word. There is forgiveness, hope, and healing for your past abortion. God shines through my life; he can shine through yours too!
From a broken relationship to the excitement of a handsome adventurer, author Krista Fink stepped into an abyss of abuse and remained in a torturous marriage until she could be silent no more. After five years, and three attempts to leave, she made the final break. Only through her own determination and the help of the Resolve Family Abuse Program was Krista able to heal from her ordeal.This book recounts her personal experiences¿no holds barred¿in hopes of reaching even one person in a similar situation and giving them the lifeline they need to climb out of their own abyss.She faced attorneys who demanded bankruptcy was the only answer to the enormous debt incurred during her marriage. Many people in ¿the system¿ neglected to hold her abuser accountable. But through the help of the Resolve Family Abuse Program, and her determination, Krista has been able to heal through speaking and writing about her experiences.
QUOTES FROM THE CHAPTER, "LET'S BE REAL" Do we have any understanding of the un-churched culture in which we live and the way these people view the church? Do we spend intentional time cultivating relationships with non-Christian people, or is our attitude one of "they know where we are, and they'll come if they want to?" If the church is truly to experience a revival, we must seek to understand the needs and thinking of "unchurched Harry and Mary." We need to stop playing our pious, religious games and realize that the church is to be a haven for broken, hurting people who feel they don't have their lives all together. And if we look at the teachings of Jesus, He consistently taught that it was those people who felt "they had it all together" who in fact were farthest from God! In no way am I diminishing the importance of sound doctrine, but I have often laughingly said that "we will be surprised when we get to Heaven at some of the people living in our neighborhood!" We must acknowledge our own struggles with complex issues and, at times, admit that we don't have God in a neat box and therefore don't have all the answers. Although sound theology is important, my Bible says first and foremost that they will know we are Christians by our love! Christ said that He had come, not to "comfort the already comfortable", but to "preach good news to the poor...to proclaim recovery of sight to the blind...to release the oppressed...and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Is that our message as well? If not, then it's time for us to be real!
A personal and cultural exploration of silence and its value in our lives—“[an] artful book, mixing autobiography, travel writing, meditation, and essay” (Independent, UK). In her late forties, after a noisy upbringing as one of six children and adulthood as a vocal feminist and mother, Sara Maitland found herself living alone in the country and, to her surprise, falling in love with silence. In this fascinating, intelligent, and beautifully written book, Maitland describes how she began to explore this new love, spending periods of silence in the Sinai desert, the Scottish hills, and a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye. Maitland also delves deep into the rich cultural history of silence, exploring its significance in fairy tale and myth, its importance to the Western and Eastern religious traditions, and its use in psychoanalysis and artistic expression. Her story culminates in her building a hermitage on an isolated moor in Galloway. “Her book is probably unique in its subject, and timely, because good, healing silence is becoming hard to find, and we may not know we need it” (Guardian, UK).
A Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist for Best Fiction and Best Debut • BookBrowse's Best Book of the Year • A Marie Claire Best Women's Fiction of the Year • A Real Simple Best Book of the Year • A PopSugar Best Book of the Year • A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • A Washington Post 10 Books to Read in March • A Newsweek Best Book of the Summer • A USA Today Best Book of the Week • A Washington Book Review Difficult-To-Put-Down Novel • A Refinery 29 Best Books of the Month • A Buzzfeed News 4 Books We Couldn't Put Down Last Month • A New Arab Best Books by Arab Authors • An Electric Lit 20 Best Debuts of the First Half of 2019 • A The Millions Most Anticipated Books of the Year “Garnering justified comparisons to Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns... Etaf Rum’s debut novel is a must-read about women mustering up the bravery to follow their inner voice.” —Refinery 29 The New York Times bestseller and Read with Jenna TODAY SHOW Book Club pick telling the story of three generations of Palestinian-American women struggling to express their individual desires within the confines of their Arab culture in the wake of shocking intimate violence in their community. "Where I come from, we’ve learned to silence ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence will save us. Where I come from, we keep these stories to ourselves. To tell them to the outside world is unheard of—dangerous, the ultimate shame.” Palestine, 1990. Seventeen-year-old Isra prefers reading books to entertaining the suitors her father has chosen for her. Over the course of a week, the naïve and dreamy girl finds herself quickly betrothed and married, and is soon living in Brooklyn. There Isra struggles to adapt to the expectations of her oppressive mother-in-law Fareeda and strange new husband Adam, a pressure that intensifies as she begins to have children—four daughters instead of the sons Fareeda tells Isra she must bear. Brooklyn, 2008. Eighteen-year-old Deya, Isra’s oldest daughter, must meet with potential husbands at her grandmother Fareeda’s insistence, though her only desire is to go to college. Deya can’t help but wonder if her options would have been different had her parents survived the car crash that killed them when Deya was only eight. But her grandmother is firm on the matter: the only way to secure a worthy future for Deya is through marriage to the right man. But fate has a will of its own, and soon Deya will find herself on an unexpected path that leads her to shocking truths about her family—knowledge that will force her to question everything she thought she knew about her parents, the past, and her own future.
