Anne Marie Miller

Category: Writing

Practicing Trauma Recovery and Replanting My Feet
In 2017, I never thought I’d be back in the writing world. I “retired” and went into nursing school and closed down this blog and my public social media. I began that goodbye saying, “This is my final post.” It wasn’t, and so I won’t say that this is my final post. I only have two feet to put in my mouth and I’ve used both of them up.

The Revival

In 2018, I decided to report my childhood sexual abuse. Mark Aderholt, the man who sexually abused me in 1996, was arrested and indicted on four felonies: Indecency with a Child: Sexual Contact and Sexual Assault of a Child under 17 years old. While the Tarrant County DA accepted a plea bargain presented by the defense (Aderholt pleaded guilty to a fifth charge: Assault Causing Bodily Injury), I decided that this was the end of that trauma in my life.

Recovery is a lifelong journey, but I’ve taken my power back. This is over because I spoke the truth and I forgave him. This ending has nothing to do with his cowardly lack of admission but instead my choice to leave it behind. I had the opportunity to face him at his sentencing and read him a victim impact statement which you can read here.

This event was in the middle of a reckoning in the evangelical church (in my case, the Southern Baptist Convention and it’s foreign missions organization, the International Mission Board) and the #churchtoo movement. It’s been encouraging to see the baby steps they are taking to prevent and heal sexual abuse that’s happened in the church. It’s frustrating that (yet I am grateful for) the mainstream media bringing attention to it after years of voices within the church trying, but it is what it is, nonetheless. A personally meaningful and memorable piece was when Rachel Martin from NPR’s Morning Edition took the time to listen to my story. The last-minute of the interview is a perfect example of holding space for someone in their grief.

In the journey over the last year and a half, I saw the need for a resource for those who support survivors. I began writing it with the intent to self-publish it, but the publisher of my first book decided to pick this one up. My latest book, Healing Together, A Guide to Supporting Sexual Abuse Survivors, released on October 15, 2019, through Zondervan. You can get a copy here.

As I did in 2017, I don’t expect to pick up the pen professionally again at this point. I began nursing school in 2017 and after a year hiatus due to the criminal investigation, I intend to finish my BSN at the end of 2023 and continue on to graduate school to work in psychiatric nursing. My current job at a DFW hospital system, which I love, the joy of serving my family and my patients and my focus on my education is more than enough to prevent my hands from being idle.

Practices in Healing

Some have asked what therapies and practices I’ve found to be most effective in my healing. I say the word practice because that’s exactly how it works. We practice. Sometimes we master it and sometimes we fail. The point is, we practice. Have grace and be gentle with yourself.

The below practices and resources are the ones that I’ve personally found to be exceptionally helpful at healing trauma and opening up space for me to find new joy, make daily choices to continue to grow, stay healthy, and not allow the trauma of the past to linger within my body now that the threat is gone. It’s been about nine months of intentionally choosing to move within this flow, and while there are challenging days and events, I’ve found that far more often than not, I feel balanced, calm, and hopeful. Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or psychologist, so please check with your own health care providers to see what healthy options are available to you in your unique situation.

Physical Health
- Eating a completely vegetarian (no meat or fish) diet, consuming fewer animal products (usually humanely curated cheese, butter, and eggs), fewer processed foods (keep in mind, we have a three-year-old so boxed mac and cheese is a staple).
- Drinking a lot of water. A LOT. No soda or alcohol, and coffee as needed but only until noon.
- Going to bed ideally by 9 pm (10 pm at the latest) and waking up by 5:30 am (6:30 am at the latest) even on weekends. In either case, listening to my body and giving it grace for the exceptions is just as important.
- Exercising in some capacity once or twice a day with slow-paced exercise. For me, it’s been yoga, mostly power yoga (yoga combined with HITT and calisthenics) for 30 minutes a day (and if I can’t do that, at least 10 in the morning or before bed). I also try walking the dogs every night after Charlotte goes to bed but when it’s cold or windy, Tim graciously walks them. Also, stretching every morning and before bed.
- Practicing deep breathing in the morning, at lunch, before bed, and as needed.
- Being more intentional about my posture. This tiny act helps breathing, the energy I put out into the space around me, and my confidence. Who knew?
Mental and Emotional Health
- Sticking with a good psychiatrist and getting genetic testing. I had a psychiatrist before I reported my abuse, and I saw her a couple of times and then switched to my PCP for refills because I thought I couldn’t afford her. When things got a little screwy, I went back to her and I decided I couldn’t not afford her. She offered genetic testing for psychotropic medication because I was having some abnormal responses to SSRIs. Usually, these tests are pricey but it turns out they offer huge discounts depending on your financial need. The test showed that I don’t metabolize SSRIs so they build up in my system. Imagine a medication that is supposed to lift up your mood just getting piled up in your body. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. I had some major panic attacks and worry. The test showed that another medication that is a mood stabilizer would work in my body well. It did. I’ve been on it for almost two years now and it does exactly what it needs to do. If you can find a psychiatrist who also does psychotherapy, you’ll find a gem.
- In addition to medication management and some talk therapy, I’ve started seeing a coach that practices EFT, or Emotionally-Focused Therapy. EFT is a little less traditional and seems a little hippy-dippy, but it focuses on identifying the negative and uncomfortable emotions you are feeling and listening to what they’re trying to tell you. Your mind realizes that these emotions, although awful to feel, are there to help you and not harm you. It uses the meridian system and often utilizes something called tapping. If you watch some YouTube videos, it seems absolutely assinine that tapping rhythmically on points in your body would help, but this is one of the most helpful activities I’ve done for my mental health. It’s been night and day different. My anxiety is much, much less (I’ve been able to get off anxiety medication and only take it in the most relenting situations which is usually just a couple of times a month. I never thought that would be possible!) It’s an entirely different modality of understanding with and sitting with uncomfortable emotions, seeing them as an asset and not a burden to get rid of. I can’t reiterate how life-changing this relationship and this therapy have been. Because it doesn’t fall under “typical” therapy protocol, my coach has become a dear friend.
- In the last year, I’ve had seven ketamine infusions. Ketamine is used as anesthesia but has recently gained FDA approval to be used in treatment-resistant depression, trauma, anxiety and pain disorders. It’s another relatively expensive investment, but it has been one of the most effective treatments I’ve used. At the beginning, it felt like I needed it often, but now, I don’t have any feeling that I need it again. Ketamine infusions have proven incredibly effective at de-escalating suicidal ideation within a matter of a couple of hours.
- Keep an eye out for psychedelics. While I don’t recommend the use of illegal substances or condone participating in illegal activities, I have been following the research carefully. Medication like MDMA (ecstasy), LSD and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) have been fast-tracked by the FDA for many mental health issues: addiction, PTSD, depression, anxiety, end-of-life stress/fear of dying in cancer patients. They’re some of the safest and most studied medication out there, but they were stigmatized in the 1970s when they were labeled as Schedule I drugs. Thankfully the data are so strong that the government is now accepting the troves of research that show just how effective these chemicals are when used in a clinical setting with trained therapists and long-term integration. It’s not a one-and-done experience and it won’t be available to pick up at Walgreens, but I have a strong feeling that these medications will be available and changing many, many lives within the next two to ten years.
- It’s difficult to separate physical and mental/emotional health, so add the Physical Health category back into this one. Yoga and sleep, in particular, have been mind-savers.
- Journaling. As a writer, you think journaling would come naturally. It doesn’t. I’ve found that keeping a short fitness and food journal, as well as a daily gratitude journal, are really good practices for my mental and emotional well-being.
- Reading (listening to) books about different approaches to understanding and healing trauma. A few favorites: The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles (Bruce Lipton, Ph.D), How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (Michael Pollan), The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma (Bessel van der Kolk, MD), The Psychadelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic and Sacred Journeys (James Fadiman, Ph.D), Following Jesus: Finding Our Way in an Age of Anxiety (Henry Nouwen).
Spiritual and Relational Health

Out of all the health compartments, this is the one I struggle with the most. I’m introverted so I refuel alone, and after working a full day with 20-30 patients and coworkers, even on the best of days (most of them!) I am mentally fulfilled and also exhausted. Even with my introvertedness, I prefer face-to-face contact, and I’m horrible at responding to email and texts. I communicate with my best friends (who don’t live in DFW) on Snapchat just so we can use video instead of texting.

With that disclosure, here are some goals I’ve set for myself and that I’m intentionally taking baby steps to accomplish. Remember: practice.
- I want to join interest groups. There are a few health collectives/co-ops and yoga and hiking groups I’m trying to get the courage to show up to and practice in a group. I’ve gone to a few meetings of a DFW group that works to communicate the research behind psychedelics to people who’ve never looked at these medications in a therapeutic way. As a future psychiatric nurse practitioner hoping to help survivors of trauma, this area (if you can’t tell) is incredibly interesting to me. The group also exists to educate those who choose to use psychedelics about their risks and best practices so that if someone chooses to use these substances, they do so in an informed way. To be clear: the group does not encourage or promote the use of these medications, it is not a place to buy or sell them and anyone who joins with the intent or expression to do so is not allowed to participate. It’s an incredibly diverse group of professionals of all ages, students, city leaders, law enforcement, and religious leaders.
- I’ve started to explore the desire (it’s a very, very, very small desire) to start attending church again. The place where Charlotte goes to preschool is a part of a UMC church close to where we live, and we went to a couple of services there when she had events during the Sunday services. Maybe. Maybe.
- I’m preparing (it’s on my bedside table) to read some classic Christian literature that I used to find encouraging in the past. Maybe I’ll even pick up a Bible again. Part of this effort, as well as the desire to explore going to church, is to cautiously open up the doors for Charlotte to begin to understand the importance of faith in her life. I’m not sure what this looks like yet, but for now, being open to the idea is a scary step.
Being mindful and aware of every day and every choice has reshaped my heart’s desire into unplugging from online spaces as my norm. And like in 2017, I plan on being less engaged online and more engaged in the tangible interactions in front of me (not that there is anything wrong or bad about choosing to be engaged online; that’s an entirely valid place to exist and helps many, many people). I’ll still pop in from time to time, and I’m encouraged by rekindling old friendships and forming new friendships over the last couple of years.

I think that’s it for now. I’ve been writing this over a series of my “uninterrupted 30-minute lunch breaks” and I need to go back to work. I’ll probably be back some time. Probably. Maybe. We’ll see.

Regardless, I’m grateful. Thank you.

Postscript: More About Healing Together

Here’s the back copy of Healing Together, so you can see if it’s a helpful resource for you. I’m pretty proud of it, to be honest. The work I’ve done in nursing school researching and practicing trauma-informed methodologies proved to be extremely useful in this book. It’s not a picture-perfect “I went through trauma. I healed. Jesus saved me. He’ll save you too” kind of book. My beliefs are changing within where they are rooted and “healing” is a big word with a lot of nuanced meaning. It’s my goal that the book informs you about what trauma does to our bodies and that it offers some gentle suggestions for walking alongside someone who’s been abused.

Sex is such an intimate topic historically wrapped in shame and when someone shares they were sexually abused, we may not know how to respond.

With recent #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements, we are learning just how many men, women, boys, and girls have suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a trusted person, often family members or leaders in the church. Sexual abuse is rampant in modern society and now–sometimes many years later–sexual abuse survivors are sharing their stories.

Anne Marie Miller is a survivor of childhood clergy sexual abuse and has shared her journey toward healing with audiences all over the world. After speaking with thousands of survivors and their loved ones, she saw the need for a fundamental and practical guide for helping supporters of sexual abuse survivors understand the basics of abuse, trauma, healing, and hope. Drawing from her own experience as a survivor and evidence-based research, Anne addresses these questions and more in Healing Together:

What is sexual abuse?
How can I help survivors?
Who are predators and how do they groom victims?
How does trauma affect survivors?
What happens when someone doesn’t remember the details of their abuse?
How does abuse wound the physical, emotional, and spiritual health of people who have been abused?
When and how should authorities be contacted?
How do you talk to your children about sexual abuse?
What are the warning signs of abuse?
Is healing possible?

Whether you are a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a church leader looking for easy-to-navigate resources to understand and support sexual abuse survivors, you’ll find answers and hope in these pages.

You can get a copy of Healing Together: A Guide to Supporting Sexual Abuse Survivors right here or if you’re looking for a bulk discount for 5+ books @ $5.00 a book, you can click right over here and use the discount code “HEALING” to get that price.
December 26, 2019
Zondervan/HarperCollins is Publishing Healing Together!
Once upon a time not too long ago, I gave up writing books. I even cursed the industry I used to work in. Never. Ever. Again.

I started pursuing a career in nursing. Our daughter was born. Last spring, I decided to turn in the man who sexually abused me as a teenager. What followed was a blessed insanity.

I found out there was a lack of resources to help equip the people who want to support sex abuse survivors. So, I decided to self-publish a book doing that. That book is called Healing Together.

Lifeway reached out and decided to publish it and I was so excited. But then we had different ideas about the necessity of survivors attending church. So we parted ways. I went back to the original plan of self-publishing it, and Lifeway would continue helping me in that process as an act of good faith. (They were wonderful.)

THE NEXT DAY: my very first publisher from TEN YEARS AGO (Zondervan) had no idea any of this was happening and were praying for someone to write a book about the same thing I had just written.

When I announced Lifeway and I were no longer under contract, they randomly found out about it. We chatted, I took a really long time to decide, but I did choose to publish with them again (and with Lifeway’s full blessing and support and help!)

A few things changed about the logistics of this book:
- The manuscript is MUCH better than I ever could have made it…holy cow.
- The release date is October 15, 2019. Not this summer.
- Because Z is a Harper imprint, they have contracts to charge certain retail prices, BUT the book will still be able to be found for free electronically as planned and $5 for paperback as planned (I’ll explain the logistics when they are available).
- The retail price on Amazon, B&N, etc. is exactly the same as it would have cost if I self-published it, something I am truly happy Z worked so hard on to make happen.
- I’m still in school and will still be going into nursing as planned & work at my hospital.
- I am also able to go out and support the book too. With Z’s awesome sales & marketing, I am glad the message of this book will be getting into so many hands.
I am tremendously proud of the research that has gone into this book and the editing Z did to make it easy to understand. I’m amazed that as life has carried me into studying to be a psych nurse focused on trauma it also aligned me with writing this book to help people understand trauma so they can walk alongside survivors and we can all heal together.

You can find it on Amazon here.
July 10, 2019
On Life, School, Career, Writing, Faith and the Future (AKA I’m not Abraham and if God is God and Time Will Tell).

There’s this thing happening on social media where you compare pictures of the present to pictures from ten years ago. So much of the revival of this site has been focused on my #MeToo #ChurchToo #SBCToo story. If you’re someone who’s been around these parts for the last decade, you know there have been significant changes in my life during that time. I thought we’d play a little game of catch up. Please feel free to comment if you are still around (or if you’re new and want to say hi.) I’d love to see some familiar names and faces from the past and know what you’re up to.

A Brief History

I remember starting back on Xanga in 2003-2005, and then invented FlowerDust.net (now owned by a Canadian marijuana company, which totally makes me laugh). Next, because I was tired of being called “That Flowerdust Girl” instead of Anne Jackson at conferences, I dropped the moniker for something much more serious, so those pastors would take a 28-year-old girl who wrote church leadership books more seriously. AnneJacksonWrites.com was born and now someone squatted it in Singapore.

After my divorce in 2010, I declared social media bankruptcy and deleted all my accounts and then after my remarriage in 2013, I switched my site name (again!) to annemariemiller.com, re-started social media in 2018 when the news about my sexual abuse and the arrest of the pastor who did it…now, here we are. I’m kind of on social media and not sure really what to do, so there is not one iota of strategy to any of this.

On Life, School, and Career

Tim and I got married on the eastern shores of Oahu in March 2013. We went from freelancing and owning our own business in Nashville to working at a church in Lubbock (and somehow ended up on a reality show house hunting). After only a few months in a very toxic leadership environment, Tim resigned and we moved back to Iowa, where he’s from. We got pregnant (quite miraculously) in 2015 and Charlotte was born the summer of 2016. Wanting to move close to my family for school and for Charlotte, we moved to the DFW area in summer 2017. Tim has a sweet job doing video at a great company here in DFW and I’m in nursing school while working as needed with at-risk pregnant women (along with some other OB and occasionally internal medicine) at a local hospital. I love, love, love it.

I should have my RN when I’m 40 and my BSN shortly after. Then, it’s off to the races for my APRN and DNP. It’s my hope (at this point) to go into advance practice forensic nursing or pediatric and adolescent psychiatry so that I can help sexual abuse survivors and their families in a very tangible way. Charlotte is currently acing preschool with an A in coloring and painting, a B in potty training and a C in PE. She does not have her daddy’s athletic ability. She’s currently named with the prestigious awards of “Most Likely to Be a Stand Up Comedian” and “Best Bear Crawl.”

On Writing

In 2014, I signed a two book deal (for my fourth and fifth published books) with Baker books. My book 5 Things Every Parent Needs to Know About Their Kids and Sex came out in 2016 and I realized I didn’t have anything else to say to the world. I bought back my contract (still paying that off.) and when I stopped writing, people stopped asking me to speak. If asked, I still do a couple of events a year. It’s fun and I do miss it.

I’m currently working on self-publishing a book called Healing Together: A Guide for Helping Sex Abuse Survivors. It will be FREE (except for the paperback, which I will only charge the very minimum that Amazon requires me to charge for printing and shipping using their on-demand service). To pay for the minimal costs of writing that (editing, design, web hosting), I have a Patreon account that is currently receiving $77/month in donations and I’m grateful for every dollar that’s helping us pay for the cost of doing business. I hope to finish it and release it by Spring 2019.

On Faith

The last few years have been hard faith-wise. In 2014 and 2015 when we sold our business and Tim went to pastor in Lubbock, not only were we totally blindsided by the aforementioned toxic leadership in the church we left (on a side note, there were many people who attended that church that we consider dear to us), but we also went through at least two miscarriages, one being extremely traumatic.

From the trauma of the church, to the miscarriages, another church experience back in Iowa, moving because of all these church situations…my faith started to get exhausted. I won’t speak for my husband’s, but it’s safe to say he’s probably at a similar place.

I prayed for strength, for hope, for light, and for a little relief. Nothing. I chose to speak out about my abuse and report him to law enforcement. That only caused my trauma to resurface and I ended up needing to go into inpatient treatment again.

While at the inpatient facility working on the trauma from my abuse, I was hit in the left jaw by a bat when someone swung at a water balloon and accidentally lost control of it. My jaw broke in four places and I had to stay in the trauma unit of Skyline Hospital in Nashville (where I was in treatment) for three days, and in the hospital a week. I lost one tooth immediately and will probably end up losing two more. My jaw was wired shut for 8 weeks, I’ve had 3 or 4 surgeries and have to get 2 more, maybe 3 (bone grafts and implants). I experienced the greatest amount of physical pain I have ever experienced and because of that, developed a fantastic (sarcastically said) physical dependence on opioids because of the high doses I needed for pain control during the two months of surgeries and the relatively long term use. So now, I’m doing a taper and withdrawal plan for that.

I have braces now which also wire in a fake tooth (my front left tooth). I’ll have to get implants and veneers when the braces come off in two years. The entire ordeal cost almost $500,000 when everything is included and our out-of-pocket is in the tens of thousands of dollars and no, the facility did not offer to cover any of those expenses and yes, I’m seeking some legal remediation in that area but in the off chance that works, it’s years away. Right before I reported my abuse, before inpatient treatment, and before getting hit in the face with a bat, we bought a house.

The timing was…horrible.

So, in short: trauma on trauma on trauma on trauma on trauma on top of watching money fly out the window faster than the speed of a bat flying at your face.

To say God is silent is almost an understatement. Some people say it’s spiritual warfare, others say I was “protected” because I’m not dead. I just know that I don’t know and I really don’t even care at this point. People refer me to Christian books or speakers or podcasts and even though I’m nodding my head and am grateful for their thoughts, because of my time in that industry, I am cynical, I don’t trust people in it, and people who I used to “work” with (speak with, endorse their books, travel with, write with) have mostly been absent during this traumatic time. So, no thank you. Hard pass.

I pray only out of superstition, to be quite honest. I don’t know how “God” operates anymore so I definitely don’t want to NOT pray for my family’s protection just in case there is some spiritual safety net that’s catching any “attacks” coming our way.

People say, “the devil just wants you to shut up” or “he wants you to live in fear.” Well, guess what? I’m not Abraham. I’m sorry, but if it comes between fulfilling some calling in my life outside of my family and the safety of my family, you better believe I’m going to choose my family every time. And when you (I) am operating under the question of God’s very existence and presence and interference in our daily life, the foundations of the Christian belief system don’t apply to the way I even process spirituality right now. If I don’t believe with uncertainty that God has a plan or that he operates as I’ve been taught in my protestant upbringing, in my middle-class American thinking, points about “warfare” or “all things working for good” aren’t in the spectrum of what I’m thinking. And if all of this sounds selfish, you’re right, it does. And right now, I’m okay with that.

If God is God in the way I thought I knew him, I suppose he’s okay with the space I need to figure it out, and life will continue. And if God is God in the way I thought I knew him, he’ll show up, and life will continue. And if he isn’t okay with it and/or he doesn’t show up, then life will continue.

On The Future

It’s pretty simple. The justice system will take care of my abuse and I fully trust the Tarrant County DA’s office with that. I may or may not have to testify in a public trial and in front of the man who abused me.

I’ll go to school and go to work and write this book and release it with no expectations other than to hope all of it helps some people along the way.

Tim and I will continue to love each other, to love our daughter, and to be responsible adults who care about people and the world and we’ll do our best to raise our daughter to do the same.

Maybe we will be surprised by God or maybe we already were.

Time will tell.

And maybe over time, I’ll tell you

(if it’s even worth telling, of course).

For what it’s worth, here’s me in January 2009 and me now.

January 17, 2019
Update: Anne Marie Miller’s Response on the Aderholt Indictment plus SBC and IMB Responses

On Mr. Aderholt’s Indictment:

It has been a while since I’ve updated what’s been happening with Mr. Aderholt on my site. On December 19, the Tarrant County, Texas, Grand Jury met and indicted Mr. Aderholt on four felony charges: three charges of indecency with a child under 17 and one charge of sexual assault of a child under 17. I do feel the need to clarify the word “assault” here. Never was my abuse violent. He did not rape me, as the name suggests. I’ve never been comfortable with explaining the details publicly, so if you’re inclined to go and look at Texas Penal Code and find out what that means, by all means, it’s a free internet. But one thing I’ve always wanted is transparency and to speak with clarity when it comes to the things I am sure of and disclosure when there is confusion.

His next date is a court date on January 15 where he will enter his plea. We expect it will go all the way to a trial setting. Having to share the details of this trauma publicly gives me a lot of anxiety, but if Mr. Aderholt continues to deny the facts of what happened and maintains his innocence, that’s what will have to happen. I have full confidence in the Tarrant County DA’s office and there already has been so much evidence presented. Not only did the IMB conclude in 2007 that abuse occurred (though they called it an inappropriate relationship and not abuse) after I reported it to authorities in Spring 2018, they conducted a several-months-long investigation that concluded there was enough evidence for his arrest. From his arrest, the DA’s office further gathered evidence and presented it to a grand jury. I was told that because of my age at the time (16) many grand jurors think that’s close enough to 17, which is the age of consent in Texas, so I was given a 50/50 probability for his indictment. When he was indicted for more charges than he was originally arrested for, it was encouraging to know these folks saw the full extent of what happened and realized the gravity of the crime.

On my personal response:

The range of emotions after his indictment are all over the place. I’m happy because the truth is being heard and actionable steps are being taken by the criminal justice system. I’m grieved because of the messages I’ve received from people who know Mr. Aderholt that also range from denial to confirmation; some say it’s something he could never do and others say they weren’t surprised. I cannot imagine what his family is going through and from the day I knew he and his wife married as he told me they would, I hurt for her. I regret not emailing her back in 1997 because maybe all of this could have been prevented. His kids are old enough to understand and the consequences for what he’s done can realistically separate his family for a long time. Knowing the love I have for my daughter and how being away at work stirs in me a longing and a missing like no other, how much uncertainty and anxiety they must be experiencing. I grieve for them the most; I am not the only victim. I pray for them, and Mark, daily. I’ve also felt incredibly supported online and with friends and most family.

On the International Mission Board (IMB)’s response:

The IMB (who knew about the abuse in 2007 and failed to report it) has hired a law firm to conduct an investigation into how they handle misconduct. It seems to be entirely a self-serving action rather than a victim-serving one. They want to keep their “staff and their families safe”” overseas and no mention is made about past victims or the responsibility to protect the very vulnerable with whom they work. Someone from the firm contacted me but it was before the Grand Jury hearing so I wasn’t at liberty to speak with them. I am now, and will keep you posted on those conversations.

On the SBC’s response:

As far as the SBC response, after many emails asking for specific help-help outside of summits and study groups-I received this email back from JD Greear.*

Dear Anne,

Thanks so much for reaching out. I continue to grieve over all that has happened, to the degree that I find myself unsure what to do or say other than to pray and to do everything in my power to get this right. I do understand what you are saying: committees and study groups by themselves are not enough. And I agree. As you know, my authority as Southern Baptist Convention President is limited, but we must insist churches (and institutions) act in ways that help survivors and deter predators, and do all we can to educate them with the means to do so. That is the purpose of my initiatives in this. My heart’s desire is to do everything I can to explore tangible action steps that can make a difference from this point forward, and that’s what I am doing. I know that this was a big week, and I continue to pray for healing and justice for you. –JDG

I replied with some very specific struggles (a very absent faith and hope and trusting God in a spiritual desert) and specific suggestions: connecting me with some pastors or counseling resources in DFW for instance (it’s been over 3 years since I’ve been to church). Surely his “limited authority” as president of the SBC” can connect me to a few local places for help. I have not heard back and it’s been over two weeks.**

On the reality of it all

I am learning to put no hope into institutional or organizational entities. I will never, ever see the help or receive the support I need from the people who should be and are held accountable for this. Instead, I continue to take refuge in my little family, in school, and at work and knowing that I will be able to serve families of trauma victims so they will not have to live with decades of trauma hiding in their bodies. I apply to upper-level nursing school this summer and I’m so excited.

On the book, Healing Together: A Guide for Helping Sexual Abuse Survivors

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Also, with the holidays, moving into a new house, and starting a new job, I haven’t had an iota of time to work on “Healing Together” or to update the Patreon page for that matter.

BUT HERE’S A BIG THING: I have decided to make Healing Together: A Guide for Helping Sexual Abuse Survivors COMPLETELY FREE as an eBook/PDF and make the paperback as inexpensive as I can using Amazon’s Createspace which I used to self publish the reprint of Mad Church Disease, Beating Burnout, and my Advent book.

I don’t want people to think I am capitalizing on my–or anybody else’s–trauma. I don’t want to make money on a book. I don’t want money to get in the way of people finding help and healing. The whole “Christian” publishing industry burned me out so badly with its expectations and that is why I bought back my last book contract. I didn’t want to write, and I had nothing to say to the world through that medium.

If you do pray, please pray for me as I write and that book and hopefully, through Patreon, we can get our very basic costs of doing business (web hosting, design, editing) taken care of. ANY and ALL extra funds will go to help SURVIVORS. PERIOD. All of it. Tim’s and my jobs provide our income. This project is not about padding the Millers’ bank account. I’ll talk more about Patreon next time I write and share how you can contribute to the basic business costs of me self-publishing this book (and how to give more if you want to give to survivor funds).

As always, thank you for your love, prayers, faith, and kind words. They matter. And you matter too.

Anne Miller

*&**: I’ve updated this to reflect an email I received this evening after posting this. In my original post, I made a snarky comment that Mr. Greear only emailed me after the Star-Telegram wrote about the absence of communication from the SBC. In my initial response to him, I told him that I found the timing curious but would choose to believe the best. My earlier post did not reflect me “believing the best” and for that I apologize. I was wrong. Since posting this, I received another email from Mr. Greear following up with me on tangible way he is trying to support me/us. I am grateful for his reply.

January 2, 2019
Finding True Justice and True Grace in a #MeToo #ChurchToo Culture

Several times over the last ten years, I found myself in the city where the man who sexually abused me as a child lived. Most of the time I was terrified to accidentally run into him. Sometimes I became full of rage and fantasized seeing him at a gas station and attacking him. And other times I would get caught off guard by my grief and sit in my car weeping outside the hotel where I was staying.

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, the myriad of emotions I experienced changed as naturally as the Texas sky in springtime. Sometimes I’d feel guilty about the complexity. Other times I wouldn’t.

I learned that each emotion had its place.

In March of this year, when I found out the man who abused me was never reported to law enforcement, a strong desire for justice gave me the extra courage I needed to walk forward. I felt validated knowing the criminal justice system would handle what the Southern Baptist Convention would not–and could not–handle. I felt a sweeping loss as my mental health suffered. I burned with indignation as this man, who already has taken so much of my life by his actions, consumed more: I lost sleep, I lost time with my daughter and my husband, and lost the easy joy I generally danced in.

There were parts of me that wanted to destroy him. There were parts of me that wanted to destroy myself.

And again, each emotion had its place.

As I worked with law enforcement, my detective encouraged me to not share the name of the man who abused me publicly until they had everything in order for the criminal case they’re working on. They understood this man’s current role and his access to vulnerable people, including children. Yet the benefits of not coming out with his name publicly outweighed the risks in regard to the integrity of the criminal investigation. I respected their wishes then and I respect them now.

Somehow this felt right and good and okay. Even though the only thing that remained between me exposing the man who did this to me was a “publish” button, I have yet to have peace about sharing my story in such a public way, most likely because of the condition of my heart. Some people have gone public and done it in a way that glorifies God while respecting the criminal process. I would have shared out of a place of vengeance.

I’m glad I had a little extra space to reconsider going public because, for me, it was not the right choice to make at the time.

Since I’ve been offline for most of the last two years, I guess I forgot how ruthless the voices on social media are…myself included. In the last month, since I shared my story online (without identifying my abuser), I’ve clicked on enough hashtags and read enough fodder to lose a little bit of faith in the world (and in myself).

Don’t mishear: there are some pretty awful people who have done some pretty awful things. Many well-respected men and women, especially within the SBC, have had their skeletons come out and be displayed for all the world to see.

In the court of public opinion, most are starting to pay a hefty price for their sins and for their crimes. I want to reiterate that the people who commit these horrid acts–and the ones who cover them up–are ultimately responsible for whatever consequences come their way.

But in all of this, there is something I just can’t get my spirit to shake off:

This court of public opinion–social media, newspapers, blogs–is not and should not be the final destination of justice. However, it seems as if most of us treat it as the highest court of all, damning those who have lied, cheated, stolen, raped, abused, and covered up to a man-made hell of Twitter firestorms, petty insults, unnecessary commentary, and misplaced desires to have the final word.

I understand as survivors of abuse we feel like we have no voice and now we can say whatever we want, when we want, to whomever we want. There is power in rediscovering our voice.

We cannot neglect our responsibility to be like Christ and we cannot evade the call to exercise wisdom with how we discuss these things, especially in public forums.

Justice and grace are not mutually exclusive.

Does the man who abused me, who stole so much of my life from me as a sixteen-year-old and over the last 22 years deserve the justice coming his way? Yes.

Does he deserve grace? No.

But here’s the thing: I don’t deserve that grace either.

I don’t write this in a self-deprecating manner.

I don’t intend to minimize what has happened to me or to the countless number of women and men, boys and girls, who have been abused in the worst possible ways, and in the name of Jesus.

The humbling reality we are faced with in this and in every part of our life is the very basic tenet of the Gospel: God so loved the world that He gave his only son to die for my sins, for your sins, and for the sins of the man who abused me.

This includes his sin of abusing me.

It is a grace none of us deserve but all of us can freely receive.

I’m afraid that the beauty of this grace is being buried alive by the permission we now have to speak freely. Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and in our attempt to bring the light into darkness, we are inadvertently suffocating out the Life the world needs to survive.

As we enter into this new climate of finding freedom from abuse that happened to us, let us not use this freedom as an opportunity to cause harm to others in the name of seeking justice.

Let us recognize the same God who sought us out and asked us, “Where are you?” seeks out all of us, even the criminals hanging on the cross.

When reconciliation plays out here on earth, may we remember the love of God that has reconciled us is also available to those who have hurt us.

May we give thanks that all of our brokenness is healed through the same holy man on the same holy cross. This man is near to us when we are brokenhearted and he is near to those who have hurt us when they are brokenhearted. He grieves for us when we are far from Him and he grieves for the world when they are far from him.

As justice begins to shine like the noon-day sun, may our hearts also shine with hope and grace for ourselves, for others, and for the world to come.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

June 6, 2018
A Letter to My Daughter on My Darkest, Brightest Night
Dear Baby Girl,

First, you’re not really much of a baby now, are you? I can’t believe you’re almost two years old. So big, yet so small. So fiercely loving even though you don’t even know how big of a heart you have or how much this world needs it.

Even though we’ll talk about it when you’re older, I wanted to write a few things down while I was living them live, in real time.

Last night when I put you down in your bed, prayed our prayer, and stepped out of the room, I started weeping because it was the last time I will get to see your face for the next month. Those closest to me know the heartbreak that comes in saying goodbye, even when it’s for a good thing. I’m afraid my absence will damage your heart or your mind. I’m afraid you will think I am gone forever. Or that I left you and don’t love you. Or that you did something wrong to make me leave.

My girl, none of those things are true.

Ever since the moment I knew you existed inside me, since the day when your dad and I saw your jumping tadpole body on the ultrasound, I have loved you with a love that only grows stronger with each day. The amount of gratitude I have for you feels like taking a deep breath of the purest oxygen and I feel my chest rise with gladness, the molecules of thankfulness penetrating each one of my cells.

It seems you grow up every night we put you to bed and you’re impossibly more beautiful, more lovely, more smart, more curious, and more surprising than the day you were born. I don’t know how this is possible, but with close to 22 months under our belt, it’s safe to say the research has been consistent.

Fear consumes me when I think about what could happen to you out in the world, whether by accident or on purpose. Part of me (most of me) dreams of a world where you do not fight the mental demons your father and I fight. That you trust fully but wisely. That no harm falls on you. That your heart never breaks.

Even if, baby, even if…
- If your brain tells you lies, you’ll know the truth.
- If someone breaks your trust, it won’t break you.
- If harm falls on you, it won’t bury you deep.
- If your heart breaks, it won’t always bleed.
And should you feel like the lies, the breaking, the burying, and the bleeding become too much, look all around you because you are so loved. Ask for help when you need it and you’ll have an army already by your side.

So, my sweetest girl, I want you to know that it’s all worth fighting for.

That’s why I’m gone for now.

I’m out fighting for me, for you, and in a way, for others so that maybe I can be hope to them too.
- My brain tells me lies, so I’m fighting for the truth.
- Someone broke my trust I’m fighting to be made new.
- Harm fell on me so I’m fighting out of the heap.
- My heart is broken and I’m fighting to be free.
I love you, baby. I love you.
May 14, 2018
How Do You Begin the End?
This is my final post.

It’s been a year or so since I took a break from the Interwebs–away from writing online, from traveling and speaking, from Tweeting and Facebooking and Snapchatting and the like. Pregnancy was such a lovely season, and truly a miracle. Our baby girl was born perfectly happy and healthy in July 2016. She’s almost 10 months old now, trying to scoot around the house on her bottom (unsuccessfully), with 8 teeth she definitely earned the right to show off. She’s coming into her own, a little ~~drama queen~~ human who I can’t believe just a year ago was the size of a cantaloupe, tucked away in utero, kicking my bladder, my kidneys, and everything in between.

When I was in high school, I wanted to get a Ph.D. in psychology and become a doctor of sorts, a clinical psychologist. Life didn’t head down that road like I expected, and instead, I ended up working at churches, writing a few books, and traveling all over the world to share stories. In 2010, after my divorce, I considered going to medical school but knew I would likely have to sacrifice having a family to start a career in medicine at the age of 30. Three years later, I met and married my second husbandTim. Medicine as a career was still ever on my mind, but there were books to write and events to speak at. Then sweet baby girl came along.

When my most recent book released a year ago, I had a feeling it would be the last. I was still under contract to write another one with Baker, but nothing surfaced in my heart that I had to write about. I waited, they waited, and still, nothing came.

Why put more words out into the world that’s overwhelmed by words, when nothing needs to be said?

I graciously asked if I could exit my contract and they graciously agreed.

The season of life when I am an author, a speaker, a blogger–the season when I knew something needed to be said and I was sure I was the one to say it–is over. There have been moments of grief, of saying goodbye, but overall, it has been the most peaceful, sure, and easiest transition I’ve ever made.

I’m heading into a new season now, and have been for a while. I’m back in school working toward a degree in the medical field–nursing? Dietician? Time will tell. I realize that’s pretty far off from where I started ten years ago, but I think I needed to learn more about God, about people, and about myself to end up here. We’re back in Dallas, surrounded by family. Tim’s working in videography and I split my time between school and serving in patient care at a hospital as a technician, and as a nutrition consultant/Associate Certified Diabetes Educator.

I’m thrilled. It’s not perfect, but it’s bliss. And I have to say: there is a freedom in ending a career in professional Christendom.

Thank you.

Thank you for allowing me to speak into your life over the last twelve (!!) years of blogging. Thank you for encouraging me, supporting me, buying books, giving literally millions of dollars to very worthy organizations. Thank you for sponsoring Compassion kids, for praying for me, for us, and sharing your stories.

There’s a commonly asked question: If you had to say one thing, to leave people with one thought, what would it be?

I’d have to say this:
- It’s okay to not be okay.
- It’s okay to be different, to not fit in.
- It’s okay to quit and begin again (and again and again and again).
- You are worth so much more than you could ever imagine in your wildest dreams.
- Sometimes the quietest lives love the loudest.
I guess that’s five things, so I’ll ask for your forgiveness and thank you for humoring me one last time.

It’s been a gift. You’ve been a gift. You are a gift.

With love,
Anne Marie Miller
May 17, 2017
May It Be Light and Only Light

It has been three months since I said farewell to social media, sans a quick break to introduce our daughter to you.

Those three months-they have been enough. They have been enough to show me that I need more, which by writing you in simple words sounds selfish.

We want God to speak to us, so we become quiet. We wait until we hear whatever words we are supposed to hear. Sometimes those words are revealed quickly; often, they are shown to us letter by letter. And other times, the thing we hear is that we are to remain listening.

I returned to one of my favorite reads recently, Echoing Silence, by Merton. In this collection of letters and pages from his journals and books (collected and published posthumously), he walks through the tension of writing, his spirituality, suffering, ego, and vocation. Two passages in particular struck me:

“If the inspiration is helpless without a correspondingly effective technique, technique is barren without inspiration.” (October 24, 1958)

…and

“The best thing for me is a lucid silence that does not even imagine it speaks to anybody. A silence which I see no interlocutor, frame no message for anyone, formulate no word either for man or paper. There will still be plenty to say when the time comes to write, and what is written will be simpler and more fruitful.” (December 14, 1949)

I am grateful for Merton’s removing himself from distractions and entering into a time of soul-silence. I doubt he knew or even wished that within his silence, he was communicating a message stronger than the power any written word could possibly create: an example.

(To note: most of his writings about entering into silence were in autumn and winter; perhaps it is designed in our warm blood to hibernate for a while.)

A scattered few friends of mine are taking brief vows of Internet silence. For some, it is the first time. For many, it won’t be the last. I have debated if these seasons of silence are a giving into self-indulgent isolation. After time and examination, please believe me that is not the case.

During his time at the monastery in Kentucky, Merton wrote letters to friends and spiritual counselors, politicians, and artists near and far. He went to Mass, he worked alongside fellow monks, took Eucharist, and kept mostly to the hours.

In the same manner, I tend to my private world of family and friends and community. Letters are shared between kindred spirits, encouraging one another in good works and glory. My days disappear into nights–and back again to dawn…to dusk…and so on–as I feel the grit in my spirit searching for an unfamiliar worship in the quotidian mysteries that occupy my time as of late.

It is hard. It is good.

I will not renounce ever returning to this space, just as Merton “refused and had practically ceased to desire” writing again, God “gave [him] back the vocation that [he] had half-consciously given up, and He opened to [him] again the doors that had fallen shut.” (1976)

But for now, may the only message I give you be one that I cannot speak or write.

May it be light, and only light.

Silentium coelorum sit mihi lex: et vita mea imago luminis.
(Let the silence of heaven be my law: and my life an image of light. – Merton, 1952)

September 22, 2016
Tons of Freebies!
Have you pre-ordered Five Things Every Parent Needs to Know About Their Kids and Sex yet? Have you been thinking about it?

Oh, happy day! It’s time to get rewarded for your eagerness!

The book ships on May 17–just a couple weeks from now. And to thank you for pre-ordering the book, I made up a nice little package of freebies for you. Now, I wish I could throw in some cookies or a new puppy, but unfortunately, neither of those ship really well. Instead, if you pre-order Five Things by May 17, email me a copy of your receipt or order confirmation and I’ll send you:
- A 35 minute audio file of a Q&A my husband Tim and I did with parents that covers their questions on sex, porn and social media.
- A 30 page eBook containing everything from my series on Apps Every Parent Needs to Know About so you can easily reference information and share it with your friends. You’ll also get an updated file every time we add a new app!
- A free trial of the Internet accountability and filtering software, Covenant Eyes. Sign up using the code I’ll give you and you’ll get to try this amazing software (which Tim and I use on all our devices) for free!
How do you get all this? It’s super easy!
1. Pre-order the book (you can find all the retailers at 5ThingsBook.com – Bonus: You can get the first 30 pages of the book there for free)
2. Send me the copy of your receipt or confirmation number to freebies@annemariemiller.com
3. I’ll send you a link to download all these wonderful freebies to help your family begin redeeming the conversation about sex!
Now, I can’t make any promises, but it’s been the norm in my experience that people who pre-order books actually receive them before their official ship date. I have no control over this, but you may even get the book a bit earlier than if you waited until it officially released.

Questions? Comments? Just shoot me an email and let me know!

Lots of love,

Anne Marie
April 27, 2016