Brave Enough To Be Bliss

children this is a tough topic. Personally, after a sexual assault at 17, I remember thinking to myself, "why not have sex now (I was a virgin when raped and had always heard from Christian adults I would go to hell if I had sex before marriage) because I'm ruined, filthy, disgusting and no decent man will ever want me now anyway." This isn't an uncommon thought or experience for survivors, so I just hope perhaps you mention that when there is a history of sexual abuse/assault without necessary help and healing, sex can be very confusing and a difficult subject so anyone hearing should reach out for help and not feel shamed by any part of the sermon. Having volunteered for various organizations and talked with many survivors who coped with their traumas in various ways including prostitution/promiscuity/addiction/etc. I just hope the message is sensitive, so no one misunderstands. From the number of people who have disclosed to me and the fact that not one of them, including me, ever reported it I believe the statistics only scratch the surface of the real number of survivors. Clearly these are just my thoughts but wanted to give you a survivor perspective just in case you hadn't thought of it already as we often judge ourselves quite harshly in this sensitive area and struggle to have healthy relationships because of the trauma. It took me a long time to get things straight in my head with God, so a little mention just might help keep some in the audience from hurting further. Likely you already thought of this, but just felt led to mention. Pastor sent, Sat 9:18 AM Hi Ginger, thank you for sharing part of your story with me. I’m so sorry for the pain and trauma you experienced. My hope is always to approach sexuality conversations with a lot of grace. The sermon has already been recorded for online and locations, but I’ll look it over as I preach live, again, thank you. Ginger Bliss sent, Sat 9:58 AM I’m sure the sermon is as wonderful as they all are. Having volunteered at some organizations with people who shared some of their stories with me and attend COR downtown, I just thought since you were preaching live there maybe it was worth a mention. Thank you for considering. Have a wonderful day and thank you f or all you do as you’ve said just what I needed to hear on countless occasions. Ginger Bliss sent, Sun 2:02 AM My sincere apologies for bothering you. I watched online and the sermon was lovely with nothing that could’ve been misunderstood. I don’t know why I felt like I was supposed to mention that, but I hope somewhere down the line maybe the ment ion in the back of your mind comes in handy. Pastor sent, Sun 6:13 AM Hi Ginger, I appreciate you reaching out. Your sensitivity to people who would have shared similar experiences, and your willingness to share your experience, was important and I appreciated it. And I’m grateful for the healing that has happened in your life. Honored to be your pastor. And thank you for the follow up note. Have a terrific day. Ginger Bliss sent , Sun 12:35 PM The brain is a powerful thing. Perhaps there was a part of me wanting to make sure by sharing my whole, vulnerable, and raw story in the book, the good, the bad and the ugly, right along with the spiritual journey, that you wouldn’t be ashamed of me if I mentioned COR. The tears started flowing as I wrote this, so I guess that was it. The tears never lie. Thank you for your kindness and compassion. I’m beyond grateful for 20+ years of hearing your sermons and not feeling shamed, just encouraged to keep learning abo ut God and being the best human I can be. It’s taken all that time to undo the messages that were imprinted in my mind from childhood church and people who shared those same messages of fear and judgment, not love. I felt Jesus sit on my bed the night I intended to kill myself when I was 18 and after that I searched for a reason to live since I believed after that night, He didn’t want me to die yet. I still wanted to die every day, but I searched and finally landed on believing He kept me aliv e so maybe I could try to help other hurting people stay alive. They became my reason for living. The purpose of the book is to help even one person know they’re not alone in their pain. I feel led to make it a free e -book so virtually anyone in the world has access. And they won’t have to worry as much about being embarrassed if someone would see them reading it since it’s not as obvious with an e- book. Sexual abuse and assault, as well as suicide, still carries a stigma so I’m hoping to help impact society (lofty goal inspired by your acknowledgement of having a big dream, and learning it’s ok to dream big dreams and seein g through this church that sometimes they even come true), and to help people learn through my story how much fear and the resulting controlling behaviors can negatively impact relationships, families and lives. I no longer believe there are good and bad people, there are just healthier people and really hurt people, and lots in between. Anyway, the thing that makes you different as a pastor is you have always made it clear you’re human and you connect with people through stories of your own life. You let u s see and feel your heart. You’ve never lost that through all these years. From hearing you in church, to a leadership devotion at Shawnee Missio n Medical Center, to speaking at a community event, to you recognizing me as someone who goes to your church when you passed by me in First Watch, all many years ago…you were consistent in all those settings and seemed to be authentically who you are , and therefore in my mind, you could be trusted. I’ve gone from being someone who never shared anything real for 50+ years trying to appear perfect enough that maybe someone, anyone, could love me to now becoming someone willing to spill her guts for the whole world to see just to help even one person. Thank you for being who you are and sharing who you are, so eventually I could learn God is the most trustworthy of all and I could begin to try to surrender some control. Your message about writing our life story “with” God was a huge answer for me. It wasn’t either or, it’s “and”…moderation, a generally healthy place to be. You impact countless lives, but I trust it never hurts for you to hear about yet another one. Please consider this a sincere and heartfelt thank you for impacting mine in such a meaningful way!

I'm very flexible as I'm at Table Rock Lake writing for the next two months. Just name and day and time that works well for you next week, other than Monday 4-5 p.m., but otherwise, whatever you say will work for me! I look forward to talking with you.

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