by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Jun 19, 2023 | Pain, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
The Silence of God In those moments when you’re consumed by pain and grief, when you’re not sure you’ll survive the night, not sure you want to. Darkness closes in until you can’t breathe and the only sound you release is guttural, only to be met with silence. The...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Dec 19, 2022 | Shame, Coercive Control Violence, Domestic Violence
You couldn’t have known. He hid a monster beneath the tux, behind the smile and the vow to love, honor, and cherish. You couldn’t have known. What was to come. The trauma, abuse, torture, and torment wrapped in marriage. You couldn’t have known. He was a con man, a...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Nov 6, 2020 | Mama Bear, Coercive Control Violence, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
Have you even said or thought those words when you heard a woman stayed in an abusive marriage? Or said, “I wouldn’t put up with that for five minutes?” Stunned into silence as the words rolled out of my sons mouth, “you’re an adult, you could have left.” Surprised,...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Oct 30, 2020 | Shame, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
She struggled to not grumble, even though she’s fatigued and disheartened. Tired of merely looking down, drained from the misery, yearning for the days when she could stand tall, to look into someone’s eyes. For eighteen long years, her only view was dirt and filthy...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Oct 23, 2020 | Shame, Coercive Control Violence, Domestic Violence
We have been friends for as long as I can remember, two peas in a pod. When you are lonely I console you. When you are low I will take you lower. You don’t even know I am here, tagging along wherever you go. I distort your image as you look into the mirror to reflect...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Oct 16, 2020 | Affair, Coercive Control Violence, Domestic Violence
The day was beautiful, the sun bright and warm, the scent of flowers filled her senses after the dreary winter. With all the men off to war, she indulged herself with a bath on the roof. There was no one to see her. As she soaked, the ache of loneliness filled her....
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Oct 9, 2020 | Church, Coercive Control Violence, Domestic Violence
If what I read from some male leaders within the church, I would say no He doesn’t like women. Their focus is on the scriptures that tell women to be silent and to submit, that women shouldn’t teach men, forgetting the character of God. That our only purpose is the...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Oct 1, 2020 | Coercive Control Violence, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
October is a month of change, from hot to cool, green to orange. The air is crisp and clean, overnight trees morph into vibrant colors that take your breath away with their beauty, unless you live in Texas. October is my birthday month, and the month to bring...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Sep 18, 2020 | Coercive Control Violence, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
Death creates a profound sense of loss, of being deprived of someone we love, of a dream that’s stolen from us, or a marriage that never quite lived up to the wedding. We’re left feeling bereaved, robbed, and exposed. There’s a story tucked in Luke 7 that...
by Karen DeArmond Gardner | Dec 3, 2020 | Coercive Control Violence, Another One Free, Domestic Violence
You couldn’t know when you said yes, all you would say yes to. There were hints of his dark side, though it’s hard to see the darkness when it’s wrapped in kindness and compliments. He made you feel as if you were only one. There is no one quite as remarkable as you....
