We're an elite club: We're the Survivors and THAT should be CELEBRATED :)

[jenelis]

Hi Survivors!

I joined Christian Forums in 2004 looking for a way to overcome a crime which left me feeling violated, alone, angry and helpless. I found camaraderie and a lot of others who had been victimized too.

Today is my birthday! I am 43. I prefer to say "35 with 8 years experience." So perhaps because it is my birthday, I am feeling a bit retrospective and philosophical-- so bear with me.

It's also been 3 years since I even came to this "Survivors of Crime" area. And this is a good thing-- means I am moving on. I know we can never forget what happened, but we all have to learn to move on.

Still to this day, when I am watching TV and see a movie or a news clip that hits that familiar chord, I get clammy. I was attacked 12 years ago-- and it seems like yesterday. My criminal was convicted, served his time and has been back out in society (laying low and off the radar because he's wanted) for a few years now. What I don't understand is how he's in the top 20 most wanted criminals for my county-- and I know right where he is. Apathy of the legal machine. But I'm not going to take him down. He can answer to God-- and I'm okay with that. He can be a page in my book. NOT a CHAPTER.

So what I really wanted to say in this rambling text... if you've made it this far--- Please remember: We should CELEBRATE our survival!!!! I learned a TON from surviving my incident. And I am soo thankful that I did and have applied this knowledge to being wiser and raising my daughter (raising my hand as a single mom) even more keenly.

The expression we've all heard like a bajillion times "God only gives you what you can handle." I hate to say I hate this expression-- I don't. I just hate that I've heard it a million times from people who didn't know what to say to me. But, past that-- this is true and we should embrace it.

But I'm good.
I'm not afraid-- not any more.
I could face him again-- and still be strong.
And I challenge you, fellow survivor, to find this same point of invulnerability.

We are the survivors. We should be CELEBRATED!!!! Find how to move on. Speaking from this other side--- it's peaceful and happy here. Please find a way to get here!

Jennifer

 

[Gracelands]

I love that attitude Jennifer! Leave it to God you are so right! We're not in a place as humans to take justice in our hands and can't afford to get bitter.

I can relate. Stuff has happened to me that i can't prosecute over I just have to believe that ultimately there will be judgement by a Good God and His.

Vengeance is not ours it belongs to the Lord.

<3 God Bless you!! <3

 

[Kristen.NewCreation]

Thanks for sharing. It can be easy to forget about being survivors, but anyone who makes it through a crime, no matter the level of violence, is a survivor.

 

[chanteuserose]

I never saw it like this, rather the opposite. Thank you for this learning step

 

[Ann Doupont]

Hello all,

I joined CF years ago but then left and recently returned. So, this forum is new to me. I'd not thought of it like as has been mentioned here, celebrated that we're survivors. I can't even say how many times I'd been a victim of a crime. I was so naive when I was young that I hadn't even considered what had been done to me as a crime...until I was a prospective juror and the judge asked if we'd been the victim of a crime.

I was then taken into his chambers and he told the bailiff to give the lady the good seat over there...his attitude really helped me, as I've felt so worthless from what had been done to me. He then asked if the criminal had been found and I asked which one...and he was shocked.

Being raised in Oakland, some of the things that happened to me there were just a way of life. I lived with a criminal off and on for years, before I was saved, and was a victim numerous times during that time of my life (I was then in my 20s). Eventually, he died of an overdose of drugs and I found him dead on our bathroom floor. I got saved 2 years later, after several stays in the mental hospital.

After I was saved, I saw a vision of Jesus. In it, I also saw that man. He was burning in a lake of fire from his waist down. God said that "vengeance is mine. I will repay."

Love you all.

Ann

 

[MissRowy]

I have been a victim of crime twice. I was sexually assaulted in 2007 by a Sudanese man (who has since done this 3 more times and gotten away with it) and I was sexually assaulted on a train in 2013. I saw him being sentenced and it was hard but it was a relief as well. When I was assaulted the first time I was a Muslim and basically told it was my fault. The second time I was assaulted I had just started to accept Christ into my life. It was a friend at uni who prayed for me and God came into my heart and he hasn't left and never will!
I am a survivor and I owe it all to Jesus Christ my Saviour

 

[Darkhorse]

Wow - I have to check this area more often; several friends here!

It's great to see everyone getting stronger and growing past our pasts (and that includes me too)

 

[NewEnglandGirl]

I am a survivor of a forceful sexual assault several decades ago while a patient in a military hospital. My rapist had been doing this for awhile, stopping with patients in the elevator on the way back from surgery to recovery and assaulting them while they were still groggy from anesthesia. He was caught and sentenced and there were other victims besides me. And he was a married man with children. It took me a while to get over the nightmares. And most of all, to forgive and even feel sorry for him. And having to go through it verbally all over in court. But it's all past now. Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger. Thank you Jesus.

 

[alsughasoughaiuyfygh]

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