Work in Texas
This past weekend in Texas was full and wonderful. My friend and board member, Sandy, worked very hard to bring our two seminars to Martin United Methodist Church in
Bedford. I presented the Responsible Care Training seminar on Friday and the Beyond Abuse seminar on Saturday. There were a lot of therapists who came to both seminars. It was great to have our brand new DVD of the Beyond Abuse seminar available!
On Sunday, I spoke in two morning services at Martin
UMC. The pastor, Bayard Pratt, is a wonderful man with great intelligence and insight. I truly loved the people of this congregation and their willingness to open their church to my seminars and my message. Sunday afternoon, Sandy and I drove to
Denton and had a very significant meeting with a staff member of
Denton Bible Church - a mega church
pastored by Tommy Nelson (of whom I am a fan). We discussed what
CTF offers and how we might partner to bring our healing tools to their programs and outreaches.
On Monday, I had a great meeting with Deacon Charlie of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas that pretty much went like the meeting I had at
Denton Bible Church. They are looking at our seminars and support group programs using The
Uncaged Project as a tool of outreach for those in their diocese who need our help.
I flew on Mesa Airlines, both ways! Sometimes flights have been cancelled at the last minute and I've needed to get in my car and "fly" to Dallas, but that didn't happen during this trip. Whew! Mesa is REAL flying - a tiny plane, cozy and intimate conversations with the pilots (no flight
attendants), and everyone on the plane (all 10 of us) chat like we've been friends for years. The best part is that it
flies in and out of Hot Springs, AR and the airport is only 5 minutes from my house! The flight returning home was almost an hour late and I was really exhausted, so a 5 minute drive after that was really, really nice!
When I got home, my husband had a beautiful beef stew and artisan bread waiting on me! Do I have a great husband! One more thing - I started grad school this week, so life is about to get really full!
www.committedtofreedom.org
Texas and DVD Production
I'm happy to say that the DVD production of our Beyond Abuse seminar is completed. I pick up the finished 3 DVD set today! The set will come with a workbook that follows the 4 hour seminar. This means that people can go through the materials at their own pace. We will make them available for the very first time at the seminars I will do at Martin United Methodist Church in
Bedford, Texas. This is a huge step forward for us. Not only are the
DVD's ready, but we received a call yesterday from someone who wanted to cover the production costs. It's nice to have something good to report! The past few months have been very difficult - emotionally, spiritually, and financially. I feel like I've been given a moment to come up for air, and for that I'm truly grateful.
I leave tomorrow and fly out of the tiny Hot Springs, Arkansas airport for
DFW on one of those planes where you really "feel" like you're flying. These are tiny plans that are like riding on a bumpy road in Honduras in a Jeep. You know ever pothole in the sky before you land. White knuckles are a pretty common sight among the passengers. The good news is that the airport is about 5 minutes from my house.
In
Bedford, I will teach the Responsible Care Training seminar on Friday and the Beyond Abuse seminar on Saturday. I will speak in both Sunday services at Marting
UMC. Monday, I hope to meet with several officials of the Dallas Catholic Diocese about the programs and services that Committed to Freedom offers.
www.committedtofreedom.org
Window
Did you ever wonder what my picture here is about? Well (it's been many years now), I went back and found the house where I was sexually abused by my grandfather when I was a child. It had been hit by a tornado and I was able to walk through it. This is a picture of me looking out of the bedroom window where I was abused. It's important for me to reflect on this at times. I'm not in that room anymore. I left it behind many years before I walked through that house. I left its hold on me, left the destruction, left the horrible legacy of my grandfather's abuse. I look at this photo and know that even as I stood there, looking out from that place, I was the one who owned my life now.
www.committedtofreedom.org
Seminar DVD Production
We finished the first of 7 segments of editing for the DVD production of our Beyond Abuse seminar. It looks great and I am so happy with how this project looks and feels. It's going to cost us about $2,500 to pay for this project, so anyone out there who would like to sponsor this, let me know!! We have struggled with some computer issues, but the production company thinks they've got things figured out and we should be able to streamline the process a bit next week. Like I said, we hope to have this done by the end of October.
www.committedtofreedom.org
DVD
I'm spending the day with our film production group to edit the Beyond Abuse Seminar that we filmed on Saturday. We'll be inserting graphics and text and preparing it for final production. At some future point, we want to refine this, but for right now, this accomplishes a lot. Our goal is to have the final production ready for the seminars I'm doing at Martin United Methodist Church in
Bedford, Texas. The director also felt that we could produce an audio CD of the seminar too. Projects like this one allow us to be in more than one place at one time.
www.committedtofreedom.org
Television Interview
I was interviewed yesterday on Arkansas state television about our upcoming Beyond Abuse seminar at the Austin Hotel Conference Center, Saturday, October 6, 9-4. The link to see the interview is:
http://arkansasmatters.com/media_player.php?media_id=16197Today, we're preparing for this seminar, which will be professionally filmed to sell on DVD and hopefully as a pay-per-view from our website. This is a big step forward for us.
www.committedtofreedom.org
Arlington, TX
I just returned from Arlington, Texas on Sunday after teaching two seminars for Crossroads Church. I taught our Responsible Care seminar for clergy and helping professionals, and I also taught our Beyond Abuse seminar for those impacted by abuse. I went there after one of our retreat alumni encouraged the pastor to do so. Pastor Joe was very enthusiastic about the seminars once he attended. Sexual abuse is such a difficult topic and people are often wary of what exactly they will participate in. This is definitely not a ministry that draws huge crowds. Every event we put on is a gamble. We've had to learn not to gauge our "success" by numbers, but by what is accomplished.
While in Texas, one of our local team members and board members, Sandy, took me to Ft. Worth for dinner. She did her best to get me on a mechanical bull, but I am a wise woman. I left horses alone too!
My staff is busy preparing for our Beyond Abuse seminar that will be in Hot Springs, Arkansas this weekend. I'm going to be on statewide television Thursday morning to talk about Committed to Freedom and to promote the seminar. It's always an uphill battle to convince people that this is worth the risk of spending a day. In reality, it's a day that can change their lives.
www.committedtofreedom.org
