#MeToo #ButNotAnymore

There's this thing all over social media this week. You've probably seen it, even if you don't know what it means. It's hashtag: MeToo. 

When you post this as a hashtag, it is a way of saying that you have been affected by the trauma of harassment, abuse, and/or assault. 

It is a way of standing in solidarity with other women who have dealt with the same thing, but perhaps have never been able to acknowledge it in any other way than to say #MeToo. 

My newsfeed is completely peppered with this hashtag. It makes me sad for a number of reasons. 

One of them being that abuse happens so often. Statistically, 1 in 3 women have suffered from abuse. 1 in 4 women in churches today have been touched by abuse. And 1 in 3 teen girls have been physically or sexually abused. 

The numbers are real. These are people I work with and attend church with. 

And as the mom of three teen girls, statistically, these are people in my own home.

This is the person I look at in the mirror.

Do you fall into any of these statistics? 

#MeToo, sister. You are not alone.

Have you found healing? 

I thought I had. My mistake was in thinking that just because time had moved on and I could function in life without feeling defined by abuse, that it no longer affected me. 

I was wrong. And I was just kind of stuck. 

But not anymore. One of ways I am getting "unstuck" is through counseling and attending a Christ-centered support group called Celebrate Recovery. It is a safe place to talk, to listen to others on similar healing journeys, and be reminded that my identity isn't in what has happened to me or all the negative ways I've dealt with it. 

It sounds like something people want to talk about.

I've found that there is freedom in sharing our stories. Social media doesn't feel like the safest place for me to have this particular conversation, but that doesn't mean I am not willing to share my story in the right setting. 

So for now, let me just say, #MeToo.

#ButNotAnymore 

I'm on a journey of healing and I want healing for you, too. 

Let's change the narrative.

Feel free to ask me more about #CelebrateRecovery 

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