I tape Oprah, just in case she has a good show.\u00a0 My husband calls her show \u201cthe gospel of Oprah\u201d with all of her worshipers in the audience.\u00a0 Occasionally, she does have a good show and I\u2019d like to talk about one I saw the other day.
\nShe had a woman on whose husband set her on fire.\u00a0 It was frankly shocking and absurd that their relationship would come to that.\u00a0 And he did it in a public place while she was at work.\u00a0 No shame.
\nThis woman said some interesting things though that started me thinking.\u00a0 She said she was a confident person.\u00a0 After he beat her, she protected him by wearing sunglasses and long sleeves.\u00a0 Her parents had a good marriage and never argued.\u00a0 Her family knew about the beatings, but never thought it was THAT bad.\u00a0 This was her second abusive relationship.
\nSome of those things don\u2019t jive, but that\u2019s the funny thing with abuse; the absurd works overtime.\u00a0 Sisters, abuse happens.\u00a0 And it\u2019s all around us, in our neighborhoods, sometimes even in our own families.\u00a0 Abuse includes sexual, physical and mental, and many forms and levels of each of these. \u00a0None are acceptable. \u00a0If you are involved in any of these forms of abuse\u2014GET OUT!\u00a0 Tell someone and free yourself of this awful secret.\u00a0
\nIf you know or suspect any abuse happening, DO SOMETHING!\u00a0
\nYou know, Visiting Teachers have access to a lot of homes all over the world.\u00a0 Granted, people hide everything from Visiting Teachers, don\u2019t they?\u00a0 \u00a0The house is clean, the smile is in place, there usually aren\u2019t any \u201cneeds\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0And if we\u2019re being honest, Visiting Teachers usually don\u2019t even want to be there half the time.\u00a0
\nShouldn\u2019t we, as sisters, be more watchful over one another?\u00a0 How would we feel if some horrible family secret came out and the Visiting Teacher had to admit, \u201cI had no idea!\u201d\u00a0
\nIf I have a responsibility over someone, I would hope my desire for friendship is sincere.\u00a0 By visiting regularly, I gain a trust.\u00a0 By asking her questions about herself, we start feeling a connection with each other.\u00a0 By sharing a spiritual message, she feels the Spirit, which draws comfort and more trust.\u00a0
\nI may not be a trained counselor or a professional fixer of problems, but I have arms, and I know how to use them. \u00a0\u00a0I may not have all the answers, but I\u2019m a good listener.\u00a0 I may not be perfect in my Visiting Teaching, but my sisters know I love them.\u00a0
\nWe all have challenges we\u2019re dealing with.\u00a0 And I think we all sometimes need to know there is support available to us.\u00a0 Sometimes we\u2019re dealing with things that are big and huge and need outside help.\u00a0 Most of the time we need validation and just a good friend we can be honest and open with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I tape Oprah, just in case she has a good show.\u00a0 My husband calls her show \u201cthe gospel of Oprah\u201d with all of her worshipers in the audience.\u00a0 Occasionally, she does have a good show and I\u2019d like to talk about one I saw the other day. She had a woman on whose husband set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministering-messages"],"yoast_head":"\n