Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 2853

Tonight's special guest is Rachel Marietta a new NAASCA family member from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. "My mother was my first abuser," Rahael reports. "I was not only beaten by her up through age 19, but she would sexually gratify herself with me when I was a toddler. All of these years with my mother lead me to marry a man very much like her, but worse." She goes on, "It was a miracle that I escaped that 10 year marriage alive. Unfortunately my two very young children were forced to live with him because of corruption in the judicial system. I'd helped put him through law school but my mother sided with him .. in order to be able to see my children more." Rachel goes on, "I eventually remarried a kind man, and we have one child. A couple of years ago, I began to realize how damaging the sexual and mental abuse had been and entered a 12 step program." It opened her eyes. "In the beginning, I thought I had no part in the abuse that I endured. While I didn't ask for it or deserve it, I began to recognize that my part was holding onto the past, living my life in a victim mentality and that I had a very skewed version of the Higher Power, God or Creator. Today I sponsor women who have been sexually abused as children, using the Big Book of Alcoholic Anonymous, prayer, gratitude and Soul Care, when I am not spending time with my family. My relationship with God is the most precious thing I have. When I first sponsored other women, I struggled with codependency issues. Every person is different, and there are many roads to recovery, but as a sponsor, my main job is to help people navigate the steps, so that they can develop an amazing and intimate relationship with their Higher Power.