There are so many stories that make up our lives. Each one has an audience that it will resonate with best. When we’re writing books, we decide which story to tell and which audience we desire to speak to. We don’t try to speak to everyone at once.
In “When I Stopped Remembering Tomorrow”, I share the story of how falling into love led to me meeting myself and falling in love with the woman I am and who I am becoming. That led to me finally truly meeting God, despite believing in Him for decades and serving within the church for years before then.
This story that I share in the intro is important to the book because with all I experienced in my life, falling in love again never felt like an option for me, and loving myself felt even further out of reach. As we take a journey together through poetry I’ve written throughout my life, you see how hard it must have been to allow myself that permission. Falling in love gave me the courage to forgive myself for things I’d done and allowed to be done to me in my life. It helped me truly forgive others and allow space for healing.
The message in the book to domestic violence victims and survivors is this: Fall in love with yourself. Learn how to love yourself more so you won’t accept less than the best kind of love. Love that doesn’t come with conditions or abuse. Love that is given graciously and without manipulation and control. Love that flows from Christ through the person loving you.
To fully accept and embrace His love, through Him or anyone else, we must first love ourselves the way God loves us. Then we can love others.
My story didn’t end up with me being with the guy. In the book, it ends with me not knowing if we’d speak again after a five-year friendship that revitalized my life. And I was okay with that. My story wasn’t one with a great ribbon and bow pulling in together but was one that domestic violence victims needed to hear. It isn’t the only story told and that’s not only audience, but it was my main one.
What story is within you that someone else needs to hear so they can free themselves from thinking they are the only person it’s happened to?
Shell Vera 
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