Hi ~

I’ve received so many wonderful responses to my emails.

I love getting to know others who are in the trenches of this difficult and messy life, trusting God in the mess and often recovering from traumas of various kinds.

One of those beautiful people is one I want to highlight today, with her permission.

Donna Giovanni is 81 years old. She experienced several kinds of terrible abuses throughout her childhood and adult years.

But I’m sure you know that in those days no one talked about these things. “If you don’t talk about it, it never happened” was the name of the game in the 1940s, 50s, 60s . . . 70s . . . 80s.

Donna continued to seek God through all these years, finally getting some help for her trauma symptoms in her mid-fifties, when the world of trauma training was just starting to open up.

Another 20 years, and she found a trauma-informed therapist who was able to give more help . . . and through the relatively new internet she found those of us who love God and are speaking out about abuse.

“Because of the Lord in my life I am able to move forward, and yet there are those times that I just need to sorrow and cry about all of it and how I was and am still affected and how my children were affected because of my dissociation through the years.”

So far, Donna’s story, as tragic as it is, is not that different from the stories of many people who speak with me.

But Donna has been writing. And it’s one of those I want to share with you now.

THE HIGHER PATH

When all my thoughts seem to swirl in turbulence

Within my soul

And I cannot stand upon all I thought

So true and dear,

It’s then I turn to My Beloved Jesus

In all my cries for help ~ and all my flowing tears ~

With all my heart.

Jesus, You are my truth

You are my calm

You are my clarity in all

I throw myself at your

Nail-scarred feet.

Have mercy on me

And have compassion on me

Break through to the deep of the deeps of my being

And meet me there and soothe

My troubled soul.

In the secret place where your light shines brightly

On all my dark spots and varied questions,

You show me the straight path…always.

You are so committed to being personally faithful

As NO OTHER.

I embrace your love

And I know your heart

Is good and pure

And strong…

You incline yourself toward me.

The clear and plain path comes to me

And opens up to such Beauty ~

Is it the answer to all my questions?

Is everything fixed up now, Jesus?

Will it ever seem to all “fit together”?

I perceive You have a higher calling for one such as I

Who is also acquainted with grief

And sorrows and sadness.

You embrace all of me ~ all I’ve suffered

All I’ve needed forgiveness for ~

All the ravages and effects of my poor soul,

Which is precious in your sight.

You assure me that I am in the center of your vision

As You have lovingly worked in me through all.

And I am learning to draw closer ~

To come deeper

And to receive richness in You that I yet long for

In our relationship.

To see your radiant beauty

Calling me to trust, yet more.

I, too, am called to bring glory to my King!

You truly are in loving charge of every part of me,

That wondrous tapestry of life

With all its unexpected twists and turns,

Its swirls and bumps and bruises and

Pain and fears and terror and…

You are not ashamed of your sufferings and

You are not ashamed of mine as well.

Yes, it is all mysterious

For if You weren’t a Mystery,

Then You would not be the Living God of the Universe!

I thank You again for everything and all

Which You have used and yet use to

Perform your own

Marvelous wonders of transformation ~

That I may become yet another

Trophy of Grace. 

My guess is that most of my readers are younger than 81 years old. All of us can look to Donna, a trophy of God’s grace, for inspiration in our relationship with Him.

If you’d like to connect with her, you can reply to this email, and I’ll forward it to her.

God bless you all.

With love and tears in my eyes,

Rebecca

Untwisting Scriptures at heresthejoy.com

See my Untwisting Scriptures series

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