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    A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey: My Poems and Practical Exercises
    A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey: My Poems and Practical Exercises
    A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey: My Poems and Practical Exercises
    Ebook139 pages57 minutes

    A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey: My Poems and Practical Exercises

    By Mary Vasquez

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    About this ebook

    Ignite your spirit with empowering love poems from God. Feel His awe-inspiring, unconditional love for a survivor of childhood sexual abuse in her autobiographical poetry book. Nikki Giovanni, world-renowned poet, writer, commentator, activist, educator, and one of Oprah Winfrey's living legends said, "What a story of faith and survival. This book should be in every clinic, every doctor and dentist office, on the pulpit of every minister to help bring those who need it comfort and to remind those who trespass that they should not."

    If you are not ready to take a journey back in time with Mary through the darkness but long to experience the healing power of God’s unconditional love, read her abridged version of this book LOVE POEMS FROM GOD: MY POEMS AND PRACTICAL EXERCISES. Then join Mary on the mountaintops of her spiritual journey and witness God’s infinite passionate and compassionate love that's sure to spark your spirit.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDivinefulness Publishing, Inc.
    Release dateFeb 24, 2015
    ISBN9780988671720
    A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey: My Poems and Practical Exercises
    Author

    Mary Vasquez

    Mary Vasquez is a poet, writer, and survivor of childhood sexual abuse. God’s empowering love helped her love her DIVINEFULNESS, that is, her TRUE SELF EMPOWERED BY GOD’S LOVE. After finishing her first book, her healing journey led to her conquering the post-traumatic stress that haunted her for over 40 years. A member of The Center for Faith and Community Health Transformation in Chicago, she also serves on the Planning Committee for the Chicagoland Trauma Informed Congregation Network. Both organizations are efforts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), University of Illinois Hospital, and Advocate Health. Born and raised in Chicago, Mary still lives there with her family. Listen to a clip of Mary’s song, “When Life Gets You Down, Get Up!” and learn more on her website at divinefulnesspublishing.com.

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      Book preview

      A Rape Survivor's Spiritual Journey - Mary Vasquez

      Preface

      My biological father sexually abused me from about the age of five until I turned 13. During one of the darkest times of my life after the abuse, I lived at the YMCA in Chicago’s Gold Coast in a room the size of a large walk-in closet and worked as a security guard in a River North condo building. That’s when I was blessed with the remarkable experience and privilege of writing a book I never wanted to write.

      It all started at The Leaven Center during a writers retreat for women in Lyons, Michigan, in January of 2005. I went there to find clarity and focus for writing my screenplay. When I returned, poem titles kept popping into my head and repeating themselves, like a two-year-old on a sugar high, until I wrote them down. As it turned out, the compiled poems tell my life story.

      I now realize that God gave me these uplifting and dark poems to help me heal myself from my horrifying childhood. They were, literally and figuratively, a godsend. Even though I fought God pretty much all along the way, I knew that forging ahead was the only way out of my misery. I wish I knew then that holding onto my faith in God would lead me to conquer post-traumatic stress.

      An abridged edition of this book, Love Poems from God: My Poems and Practical Exercises contains only the uplifting poems with journal pages for readers to use.

      Whenever you are having a difficult time and need a quick dose of encouragement, I hope you will find this book inspiring. I pray one or more of these poems speaks to you and helps you in your healing process. Musically, spark your spirit with a free copy of my song, When Life Gets You Down, Get Up! See the last page of this book for details.

      Acknowledgements

      God’s unconditional love, priceless faith, and infinite graces saved my life. Recently, long after I wrote this book, I struggled through the worst depression I ever experienced. My mind, senses, and spirit constantly wrestled with the bleak darkness, and my only consolation came during prayer.

      Thank God I met William Rosado, another survivor, who helped me achieve a miraculous breakthrough. I still cannot believe I no longer suffer from post-traumatic stress (PTS) nor feel traumatized by flashbacks, and I finally feel normal. Read more about my breakthrough in the afterword.

      My mother, God rest her soul, practiced what she preached. Actually, she never preached. Instead, she melted my heart with her gentle love and compassion. I wanted to grow up and be just like her because she was always smiling, laughing, and in a good mood. That’s why as a little girl I read the Bible nonstop for hours even though I really didn’t understand most of what I was reading. She already found the secret to happiness, and all I had to do was follow her lead.

      She talked to everyone she met as if she had known them her entire life and never had a bad word to say about anybody. Our next-door neighbors, Max and Esther Friend, a wonderfully warm, elderly Jewish couple, were close to my family. My mother explained how they lived their faith in doing good works, respecting others, and going to their own church (temple), too. Their God was our God, too, she once told me. I remember one year when I gave them a Christmas card, they graciously accepted. I still feel like such an idiot.

      My brother, Tony, and my youngest nephew, Eric, would be next. Thank you for your love and encouragement during the years I struggled in the bleak darkness and the long path that finally led to publishing this book.

      Although one of my sisters, Mary Sarelli, passed away years ago, reconnecting with her children and their families has been such a blessing. Thank you all for your love and confidence in me and my publishing aspirations. I look forward to finding my sisters Lilly and Rosie Vasquez, the infant taken away by the state after their mother passed away, and my sister Maria del Consuelo Arvizu, too.

      My best friend, Shawn Noel Simmons, has always supported me throughout my life and all my endeavors, and this book is no different. She conceptualized the book covers, too. Thank you, sister. I love you!

      Generous with his WordPress knowledge and developer expertise, Edmund Dante Hamilton’s contributions have been invaluable to Divinefulness Publishing, Inc. Thank you, my trusted friend.

      I will never forget my fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Wisclek, formerly known as Miss Wisniewski. By encouraging class performances of short plays that my best friend and I wrote, she planted a seed of empowerment. When I finally started pursuing my passion

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