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Inspiring Voices - Earnie Lewis

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100 pages

English

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This book tells my personal battle to overcome the effects of childhood sexual abuse from a brother ten years older than me, physical and emotional abuse from my father, and the path to finding freedom in life to use Gods gifts of character for His purposes. The reality of being a child of the King, an heir to God, is only now becoming true for me. The fact that I am not an error, a mistake, had to be overcome before the truth of who God created me to be could start taking root. Trusting a God I knew about is very different than trusting a God I have an intimate relationship with. This book can help you build this relationship with our God who loves us dearly. I personally hope that if you struggle in any way with your identity in Christ or your worth to Him, this book will be an inspiration to seek the help needed. The help is here for us. Christs promises are true for all of us, not some of us. Tell somebody you trust. If you dont have this person, use my e-mail provided in the back of the book and let me be that first person for you.

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Assertiveness

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Publié par	Inspiring Voices
Date de parution	28 juillet 2015
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781462411399
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

THE JOURNEY FROM ERROR TO HEIR

An autobiography of a life’s journey from abuse to finding a victory of God’s choosing—far bigger and different from what I thought victory could ever be

EARNIE LEWIS

Copyright © 2015 Earnie Lewis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Inspiring Voices
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.inspiringvoices.com
1 (866) 697-5313

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4624-1140-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4624-1139-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015911970

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 07/28/2015
CONTENTS
Foreword & Acknowledgements
Part I Years of Abuse
Chapter 1 Dad
Chapter 2 Rich
Chapter 3 California Years
Chapter 4 Oregon
Chapter 5 Abuse on the Farm
Chapter 6 School
Part I I The Secret
Chapter 7 College
Chapter 8 The Months before Marriage
Chapter 9 Married Life
Chapter 1 0 Divorced Years
Chapter 1 1 Kathy
Chapter 1 2 The Secret is Out
Chapter 1 3 The Beginning of Help
Chapter 1 4 Parenting
Chapter 1 5 The Years Abroad
Chapter 1 6 Returning to the US
Chapter 1 7 Secrecy’s Last Years
Part II I Finding Freedom
Preface
Chapter 1 8 Second Step
Chapter 1 9 Three Years of Counseling and Therapy
Chapter 2 0 Mom
Chapter 2 1 The Three Years Conclude
Chapter 2 2 Finding Freedom

Conclusion
Resources
FOREWORD & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Taking on the task of writing an autobiography that is authentic and transparent has been monumental. I’ve never been one to run from conflict or to procrastinate on a job needing done. However, that hasn’t been the case in addressing this book. From the viewpoint of man, I’d be called a genuine procrastinator and an avoider of conflict in this event. However, from a spiritual viewpoint, God didn’t have me ready in all the areas of freedom & victory that He wanted me to know before undertaking this.
My human nature has always been to use any experience I’ve encountered or one someone I know has encountered to grow and mature. However, my childhood sexual abuse and physical/emotional abuse were too graphic, painful and shameful for me to use until my later years in life. I write this because I want any reader to know the purpose of this writing isn’t simply to tell my story. However, it is intended to be: • a testimony of God’s amazing healing in today’s world; • a guide to freedom for someone stuck in the secrets of abuse and the damage it creates; and • a book of HOPE for anyone tackling or wishing to tackle a problem bigger for them than life itself.
The title of my book— The Journey From Error to Heir came from a sermon my pastor gave in the fall of 2014. He didn’t use this title, but he did emphasize the fact that we are all heirs of Christ if we accept His work for us on the cross. Even though I’d heard this many times in my life, when I was hearing it this time the first thought that came to me was the fact I’d always thought of myself as an error and this word rhymed with heir. The words are homonyms, sounding the same with different meanings and spelling. Why would God bring a 10 th child into a family of 12 children when much of his childhood was filled with sexual abuse from a brother 10 years older than he and to experience the physical and emotional abuse from his dad? The thought I was an error was deeply embedded in the primal beliefs about myself.
A ministry called Celebrate Recovery became the door God opened for me in 2007 to begin my road to freedom. I had heard about this program from a brother-in-law of my wife who led it for his church in Western Oregon. A one day seminar introducing it came to Boise, Idaho in June of 2007. My wife and I organized six of us from our church to attend it. I ordered all the leadership materials necessary for getting it started. In preparing myself with the materials, I found I was needing it, and should not be leading it. God took care of the leadership need and I was able to begin this journey early in 2008.
It has been amazing to find what God is pointing out to me just in the writing of this. I truly am a gardener at heart and so the analogy God gave me this morning allowed me to understand something that was starting to haunt me in the writing of the book. In order to bare my soul in this book, I have to reveal the part of my life that I’ve kept a secret. Even though I’ve walked the path of recovery for it and told it to many groups, I’ve never come close to placing it into the “hands of the world”. So, now that I’m actually putting my life into full transparency I find myself awaking in the night with much of the same fears I’ve had throughout my life. In journaling about this during my devotions this morning I asked God what it meant. He allowed me to compare this to my gardening. He reminded me how my body responds each spring to all the shoveling, pruning, rototilling I do to prepare for the coming year. I immediately knew he was talking about my sore muscles and stiff back which happens in the first week or two of spring work. He said that the fears and concerns I encounter are no different. They are just what the human mind and heart do when you stretch them. These are emotional responses to strenuous work. I don’t stop gardening because of the sore muscles. If I did the crop would never be harvested. The response is the same for the book. If I stop the writing because of fears and anxiety the crop can never be harvested. So folks, the book is going to be written. I’m on assignment.
There is a yearning inside me to ensure the voice of God’s Spirit is continuously present throughout the book. I have read and reread this manuscript to take out the “Earnie’s” in it. Earnie didn’t find himself solely in this journey. What he found is a Magnificent, tender-loving God who has never abandoned nor forsaken him. This God of mine and ours is ever seeking to finish the creation He started when we were first conceived. Man interferes in this process but He never abandons. He waits patiently for us. He has been the motivator for this manuscript and the author I want to be sure is named. I am forever grateful for Jesus Christ, my Risen Savior, Redeemer and Lord.
I will never be able to adequately thank the host of people who have been integral in this journey from exposing the abuse to finding freedom from it. My wife Kathy stands at the top of the list. Little did I know what a gift God was giving me when she said yes to marrying me. She is the first person I ever told about my past thinking no one would ever want me close to them if they knew the truth about me. Her responses were always and continue to be ones of support, comfort and encouragement. Right under her name is the name of a very close friend who never wavered from his relentless support and Godly guidance. His name is Mike and he is not just a best friend, but he is also a 40+ year singing buddy. Next are two counselors who were God’s instruments in pointing out many of the steps to freedom the book clarifies. Family members, two of which I want to name, Alice and Bonnie (sisters) need to be recognized for seeing well beyond the abuse of a brother, to see a brother who was already to them an heir of Jesus, (I tear up just writing this). Many Celebrate Recovery leaders in our group, one for which I need to name, Carol. She endlessly focused me back to who God created and not to the lies I thought man had created. Lastly, the ones who took their time to thoughtfully and meticulously read this manuscript for editing purposes. My fears often screamed that I was being too descriptive or graphic. Their guidance allowed me to be better assured that the book is ready for an audience of readers. Kathy Tolan, you have been a long-time friend of my family and me. Thank you for using your expertise to give this help. I’ve known most of my life that if I ever wrote this book, you would be the first person from which I want guidance. Your kind words and clarifying help mean the world to me. Nancy Chopko, I’ve not known you too many years, but I’ve loved the few I’ve had working with you. I’ve enjoyed your ability to identify a problem and reroute it to success. I learned that you were an avid reader and because you aren’t afraid to say the truth, I wanted you to read this book and tell me your objective truth. Thank you for this. My final thanks goes to my daughter Amber. She created the book cover for me. Each of my three daughters have been most encouraging to me in moving forward with this work. When I asked Amber to consider creating the book cover, she did it from the picture God gave her once she’d read the document. Thank you Amber.
PART I Years of Abuse
CHAPTER 1 Dad
The year was 1950 and the day was July 1 st . The location was a farm a couple miles outside a rural town in Southwestern Idaho named Homedale which bordered the Snake River. Harold was packing his fishing