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    A Bright New Place: Triumph After Trauma
    A Bright New Place: Triumph After Trauma
    A Bright New Place: Triumph After Trauma
    Ebook111 pages1 hour

    A Bright New Place: Triumph After Trauma

    By Fiona O'Branyll

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    About this ebook

    Fiona OBranyll was subject to severe abuse in the most tender and vulnerable years of her young life. How did she survive? This engaging story gives a vivid and practical picture of how the power of faith in God, and hanging on to His words, becomes a sustaining and permanent refuge during and after the worst of times. On her journey through loss and into peace, Fiona's faith ignited miraculous optimism within her, sustaining her spirit and soul throughout her life. Written with survivors of abuse in mind, this book will encourage anyone with a traumatic past, but it will also bring hope to every person going through challenging circumstances.
    Mary Beth Griffis, MA, LMHC

    Fiona O'Branyll's recounting of a horrendously destructive childhood brings light to God's power to transform a life. Hers is a great example of God giving a crown of beauty instead of ashes, oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. In reading her book, you will witness this supernatural transformation where God turns to good what man meant for harm. Fiona's transparency and honest recall reminds us of Abba Father's love for us.
    Barbara Beck, co-host, TV45's The Good Life

    Fiona O'Branyll has a story of unimaginable pain as well as the redemption and life-transforming power of Jesus Christ. She movingly describes the terrors of abuse, the resulting bitterness and struggle to forgive, and the persistent, healing love of Jesus Christ. Saturated with Scripture and punctuated with poems she penned as a young adult, Fiona offers great hope to abuse victims as well as wise insights for those of us who desire to care for those who have suffered.
    Mark Altrogge, pastor and songwriter

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJun 5, 2013
    ISBN9781449797126
    A Bright New Place: Triumph After Trauma
    Author

    Fiona O'Branyll

    Fiona O'Branyll is a survivor of childhood violence. She helps others take that difficult look back, then move forward in strength and joy. Fiona delights in being the mom of Logan and Emma, and celebrates life with abandon. Her bright new place is to live at peace with her past.

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      Book preview

      A Bright New Place - Fiona O'Branyll

      Chapter 1

      image_265.jpg

      Mom’s Story

      I t is no accident that you are holding this book right now. This is a divine appointment. There is something specific in this story that you are meant to hear. I have been praying for you. I wish for your heart to be open to the parts that will connect with you. Don’t just listen to my voice because God is here, right now, with you. He is also speaking to you. God is going to surprise you.

      In order to know me, the best way to begin is by introducing you to my Mom. Let’s start with something she wrote in the 1980’s. Some of these statements might be familiar to you.

      All I Need To Know I Learned

      in Sunday School:

      God is love

      God is my Heavenly Father

      Jesus is the Good Shepherd

      The Good Shepherd takes care of the sheep

      Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so

      Be ye kind, one to another

      A friend loves at all times

      Jesus loves the little children

      God created the Heavens and the earth

      Let your light shine

      The Bible is God’s Word

      Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

      Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone

      The B-I-B-L-E, Yes, that’s the Book for me

      For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son

      Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take

      There is a beautiful verse in the New Testament: "God works all things together for good to them that love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28. Do you think my mom liked that verse and believed that all things work together for good? Based on what you read above, I’m confident you can see that Mom loved God.

      And yet both her mother and her father were alcoholics. Her mother only showed love to her when she was dressed cute and her hair was fixed nice. Not that Mom had any control over those as a little girl. There was no unconditional love in her home. Attention was based on the circumstances of Mom’s appearance and her mother’s mood.

      Her father did not take care of her. Here is what Mom wrote in her journal:

      "He was irresponsible

              my Dad

              (made me sad)

      not very wise

      and all his lies

      postponed the disappointment."

      When Mom was a senior in High School, she met this smart fellow in the Navy. He was four years older than her and interested in her. It was very flattering to be courted by someone who had a good job and a bright future while she was still in high school.

      He was so taken with her that he gave her a beautiful diamond ring and proposed to her. It seemed like her life was taking a very hopeful turn. She graduated in June and they married on July 1st.

      He took her to Niagara Falls for the honeymoon. It didn’t take Mom long to discover that she married a bully. Her groom was so aggressive their first night together that he cracked her ribs. The next morning she was in too much pain to leave the hotel room so he left his new bride alone and went to have breakfast by himself.

      There she was 18 years old, shattered, thinking, What have I done? What have I gotten myself into? He is not the answer I thought he was. This man is not my rescuer after all. What can I do?

      What she did was honor her fresh marriage vows and do the best she could under the circumstances. This was just the beginning of decades of verbal, physical and emotional abuse. It seemed like this man hated himself and took pleasure in making others miserable. He would insult and belittle this precious young woman who loved him and wanted a good life with him.

      There is an entry in Mom’s journal entitled

      Looking Back

      "happy,

      I thought I’d be

              Even free

      When you married me.

              Life

      Became more

      Like the diplomatic corps

      And I hid behind my silence

              Bitterly."

      She could have no faith in her new husband but she did trust God. I believe she claimed the Old Testament verse Habakkuk 3:18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. She kept her faith and found joy in the blessings of motherhood.

      The next summer she had a son. The following summer a daughter and a year and a half later one more little girl, me. She told me that she was able to play with us with more freedom than she had experienced as a child.

      Mom wrote in her journal:

      "I had three babies in a row,

      felt them laugh, watched them grow.

      Now each is a person of his own

      Showing me his love."

      It is remarkable to me that she writes of us showing her love because what I remember is how she loved us! In the way that Mom lived her life, she taught us love without limits. Never did we doubt her love for us. We knew that she would love us no matter what. There was nothing we could do or say that would separate us from her love.

      Mom also taught us that there was a God in Heaven who loved us even more than she did. That He would always love us with big never-ending love. In fact His love for us was so much that He sent His own perfect Son to take the penalty for our disobedience. She explained how when we were naughty, that was called sin.

      Instead of me being punished, Jesus took my punishment. I knew plenty about being naughty and getting spanked. Many times I was sent to my room to wait for my punishment. I would begin crying before the spanking started. So this idea that I wouldn’t get what I deserved, that this perfect Jesus who did nothing wrong loved me so much that He would spare me what I deserved and take it for me was extraordinary. Could that really be true? I chose to believe my mom because her deep love for me was so

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