About Pearl . . .
Hmmmm. . . what is there to say about Pearl???
Her odyssey of survival that spanned several decades began in early childhood when, amongst other abuses, she was forced to participate in various horrendous ritualistic exploitations including heinous forms of child sexually abusive material. (Actually, all forms of child pornography are heinous.) All of this was done &/or condoned by the people she loved and was supposed to have been able to trust. These people were considered ‘swell’ by society, so if anyone else did choose to see what was happening it was either ignored or Pearl was told to keep her mouth shut and in effect, allow it to keep happening. In the later years of abuse she did have a hero, a cousin who would covertly try to protect her if he was around when it was imminent.
Pearl lost her sense of self and self-worth, security, ability to love and be loved, trust, and voice (not literally) at an early age.
When she was married to a man who would waffle between telling her no one would ever want her and if she left him it would be the last thing she would ever do, Pearl started praying in earnest. It took a couple of years but God pulled her out of the marriage safely. He has walked with her every step of the way no matter how angry she’s gotten at Him and how often she’s chosen not to follow His guidance. Pearl now acknowledges she never would have survived without God to sustain her throughout her life.
Because of Pearl’s inability to trust anyone, including God at times and herself mostly, the journey towards healing has been long, arduous, terrifying and worth every step. She’s allowing good & decent people and fun into her life now and is learning how to love in the way she’s realizing she deserves to be loved, so she can give love as well as she asks to receive it.
One of the biggest motivating factors that has kept Pearl on this journey even when she really, really, really wanted to quit was the belief that once she’d found her own voice and value she’d use it to turn what perpetrators meant for evil into good. She’s doing this by reaching out to other survivors to let them know they are not alone and that we are all worthy of doing whatever it takes to become whole, healed and accepting of our intrinsic, infinite value.
This blog is one aspect of living out her life’s purpose. Pearl hopes you’ll join her and prays that together, we’ll all find and claim the love, freedom and amazing life we deserve.
Amen!
