The Christian community is the one place we should feel safe to share our burdens, yet it is often the very place we feel compelled to wear a mask.
Dear TSM...
It is TSM's desire -- by God's grace -- to shed beams of hope and direction into troublesome and confusing trials. Real accounts of changed lives can be a powerful tool in someone else's life. Thank you, Laurie, for "daring to be real" and sharing your story in order to bless others. Read Laurie's story below:
Dear TSM,
I moved to Pompano Beach, FL from Long Island, NY with my husband, son, and mother in 1979.
A few years later, on July 9, 1981 at 9:30 PM, four months after we purchased our first home, my bedroom door opened and a man was standing there with a towel tied around his face. He said, "Close your eyes and turn around."
I pleaded with him. "You can have anything you want, but please don't kill me," I said.
He blindfolded me with a towel and said, "I checked on your son and he's sleeping..."
Afterward, the police instructed me to go to the Rape Crisis Center. I recall sitting on a couch in a dark, dank room with a woman who never looked up as she wrote the information I provided. In fact, she was annoyed with me for taking so long to answer the questions!
George, my husband, said I needed to put the rape behind me so we could get on with our lives. I suffered in silence.
That dark cloud of emotional loneliness coupled with the rape was too heavy to handle. Drugs became my way of coping with the pain. I found that anger worked well as a boundary. It kept me safe from rejection ...
Many years have passed since that violation that affected every area of my life. It has been through God alone that I have found healing that was not otherwise possible. I have started a ministry devoted completely to helping women find peace who have been struggling with the effects of sexual violations that can linger on for years.
Please let any women who contact TSM who have ever experienced a sexual violation of any type know that there is help.
~Laurie Englehardt
If you want to find online support or advice for dealing with any type of sexual violations go directly to Laurie's web-site at www.eparministries.org.
Dear TSM,
I moved to Pompano Beach, FL from Long Island, NY with my husband, son, and mother in 1979.
A few years later, on July 9, 1981 at 9:30 PM, four months after we purchased our first home, my bedroom door opened and a man was standing there with a towel tied around his face. He said, "Close your eyes and turn around."
I pleaded with him. "You can have anything you want, but please don't kill me," I said.
He blindfolded me with a towel and said, "I checked on your son and he's sleeping..."
Afterward, the police instructed me to go to the Rape Crisis Center. I recall sitting on a couch in a dark, dank room with a woman who never looked up as she wrote the information I provided. In fact, she was annoyed with me for taking so long to answer the questions!
George, my husband, said I needed to put the rape behind me so we could get on with our lives. I suffered in silence.
That dark cloud of emotional loneliness coupled with the rape was too heavy to handle. Drugs became my way of coping with the pain. I found that anger worked well as a boundary. It kept me safe from rejection ...
Many years have passed since that violation that affected every area of my life. It has been through God alone that I have found healing that was not otherwise possible. I have started a ministry devoted completely to helping women find peace who have been struggling with the effects of sexual violations that can linger on for years.
Please let any women who contact TSM who have ever experienced a sexual violation of any type know that there is help.
~Laurie Englehardt
If you want to find online support or advice for dealing with any type of sexual violations go directly to Laurie's web-site at www.eparministries.org.
There are many types of sexual violations such as rape, incest, date rape, molestation, and over-exposure, coercion, etc..
Some of the long terms affects of sexual violation are: flash backs (many times during intimacy), mistrust, hostility, fear, nightmares, hysteria in uncomfortable situations. random reclusive behavior (withdrawing), etc.
Also, we want to hear from you if you have wrestled with any of the struggles listed on this web-site and would like to share.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Some of the long terms affects of sexual violation are: flash backs (many times during intimacy), mistrust, hostility, fear, nightmares, hysteria in uncomfortable situations. random reclusive behavior (withdrawing), etc.
Also, we want to hear from you if you have wrestled with any of the struggles listed on this web-site and would like to share.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Write to us confidentially at:
Contactus@TSMwomen.org
Contactus@TSMwomen.org