Had no idea this was a challenge for you. Great work with your journey of healing and testimony!
@Martin thank you sir. Quite frankly I hadn't realized how traumatic my upbringing was until I was living alone, and realizing that I no longer had to respond/behave the way I was, but I had no other way of being. Although trust and emotional intimacy made me uncomfortable, I still lacked healthy boundaries. God is faithful because He equipped me to handle the past, but now He was correcting me so I could truly walk in the way He intended.
@Kristina that really is a shame. On a much smaller scale, I didn't realize the amount of stress I had from a family member until I learned more about how people typically act when they have power, and a little about psychology.
@Martin the beauty of revelation! I study school counseling, which has been extremely helpful to connecting with others and understanding behavioral patterns, mental health, and strategies for interacting with difficult people. It didn't make circumstances better, but it made it more manageable for me.
@Kristina I also started reading a book (the title may be very shocking if you have not heard of it) called No More Christian Nice Guy. Written by someone whose experience was way worse than mine, but I think it has some good points in it.
@Martin Im not familiar with the book but that title is intriguing. I love that because often we perceive Jesus and Christianity to be very passive, but Jesus wasn't the nice guy. He was kind and compassionate, but He didn't enable harmful behaviors.
@Kristina I am still working through the book, but it lines up closely with what you said...sure we should continue to be generous towards each other (sacrificially if needed) but not tolerate harm and mistreatment towards others, nor ourselves.
