Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 950

Tonight's special guest is Laura M Parks from Chandler, Arizona, child abuse and DV survivor - author of several books including, "Under the Broken Halo," "A Promise to God: The Story of Pastor Cam Iverson" and "Alias 'The Rose': Though the petal may fall.....She shall never be forgotten." Being brutally raped by her older brother, molested regularly and beaten by her father, emotionally abused by her mother, and molested by other family members, led her down a very destructive path. "By my teen years I didn't know which way was up and dreamed of either dying or running away." She says. "I married men like my father, domineering, abusive, and controlling. Between marriages I hung out with bikers in dimly lit bars engaging in activities that were less than appropriate for a mother of young children. I made some bad decisions and the cycle of abuse continued in my children." One morning in February of 2009 she woke up and said "enough is enough." She decided to start living instead of just existing. "I had faith that I could finally become a whole person and started making arrangements to move on with my life," she says. "The day I left my third husband, he was waving a gun in my face threatening to blow a hole in anyone that came on "his" property. Even though I was terrified and shaking, I refused to back down from him. I packed my stuff, got in my car, and drove away from the nightmare." Laura concludes, "I listened to my voice inside, prayed every day, stayed strong and never looked back. My mission is to inspire others to become survivors and stop considering themselves victims. If I did it, so can you." As Laura says, "We don't have to stay victims, we can all become survivors."