Dripping In Grace
Author: Kim Chadwell
Publisher:Self-Published under Kim Chadwell Ministries, Inc., Louisville, KY, 2018
“Overcoming Is A Choice”
Yes, I have heard stories about meanness. There was Cinderella, and the mean reindeer that didn’t like Rudolph, the Mean Sisters, etc. – all in fiction. And of course, there’s real life meanness that is a thousand times worse. We hear about them all the time and some of us wonder how man (or woman) can be so cruel to another man (or woman), or worse still, to a child. No one has yet come up with a satisfying answer – save and except perhaps that there’s a spiritual void in our very being that we haven’t filled appropriately.
With this book, Kim Chadwell, takes her readers into her very difficult experience. I’m sure some will not be able to get through it all – but if you do, it’s well worth it.
From day one, Kim’s life was, let me put it mildly – horrible. The cruelty she experienced as a child is what no child should ever live through. Sadly, many do not survive. The meanness she had to absorb mentally and physically would leave a grown man in tears. The criticism thrown at her was of the nature that even an accomplished politician could not withstand, causing him/her to resign. And all of these were constant over many years.
Kim’s life was a constantly controlled life – in both big and petty ways. The examples will make you either scream or vomit. It’s hard to know whether that hurt her the most or if it was the fact that she was constantly told “you don’t deserve” anything? After you’ve heard that time and time again, you begin to believe. And that brings about both emotional and physical loneliness. And loneliness leads to a desire to commit suicide. She tried.
Several years into her ordeal, Kim was dragged by her ‘parents’ to an appointment she knew nothing about. After the psychologist spent 90 minutes with her ‘parents’, while she waited in the hall without a clue as to what was going on, it was time for her to go in alone. What that psychologist said when he first spoke, changed Kim’s life. You’ll need to read her book to discover what he said and how this started Kim on the road to healing.
In letting us in on her journey, we travel with her to places where those abused because of dysfunctional relationships often get to and unfortunately, often can’t move beyond. One such place is where the abused gets to the point where, even though there are wonderful pastries to be had, he/she only asks for “crumbs”. Because again, “you don’t deserve anything else” is continually playing over and over in your mind.
And then there is Kim’s vision about Forgiveness with its four pillars – each one playing a critical role in the process. That is worth the price of the book alone. And pastors can easily develop several sermons using Kim’s material.
She did lose me for a few pages when she introduced her “quadratic formula” which somehow ends up equating freedom to forgiveness, but I am sure many of her readers will be able to enlighten me as to how that works after they read the book.
Kim shares with us the feelings (including fear) that she experienced for years and how certain triggers will bring those feelings back. She tells us what it took to make sure that the cycle of abuse would not continue from her to her children. She shares how hard she worked to help her children deal with their mother’s abusers.
The book ends with one incredible scene that I would call the “climax” of it all – bringing together her abused life, her present situation, her children, her faith, and the battle she needed to win. And amazingly, it’s all real life – not fiction.
Her material throughout is solid. This is a highly recommended work for those who are abused, those who are abusers, and those who love and minister to either of them.
My favorite quote of the author’s is: “Overcoming is a choice.” Kim made that choice. She overcame.
It would be great if you would share your thoughts or questions on this blog in the comments section below or on social media.
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