Author Mina R. Raulston, provides in this her debut book her
personal testimony of her experiences with domestic violence in a fourteen-year
long abusive marriage, and her journey to healing, a deliverance she credits to
God’s intervention upon her life. Included in the book is factual information
about the realities of domestic violence, the help victims need to extricate
and rehabilitate themselves, and ways to find that help. An appendix of
available professional resources is incorporated in the book.
Mina tells me
that countless
authors will tell you they have been writing since they were children, ever
since they could hold a pencil. They will tell you they have been telling
stories, or putting out newspapers their whole lives, always seeking an
audience to entertain. Not so for Mina Raulston. Mina says she has always been
good with reading and could write a good term paper or book report in
school, but she never considered herself creative. She didn’t begin writing
until after she experienced a traumatic divorce caused by domestic violence.
Here is Mina’s story in her own words:
Mina
R. Raulston – Author
“In 1989 I went against everything I believed in
and divorced my husband of 14 years when his abuse escalated to throwing steak
knives at me. I was about to start the old routine of keeping the children
quiet and walking on eggshells around my then-husband and the father of my
children until the stress and violence passed, again. While staying up late
that night to try to unwind from the violent exchange, I was reading a magazine
article about domestic violence. I thought to myself, “Do you have a video
camera in my living room? Because that is what I am living.” Instead of
repeating the cycle as I had many times, the next morning I took my children to
caregivers and then went to Legal Aid where I filed for divorce.
After spending four
years as a post-traumatic mess, I attended a ladies retreat with my church.
During that retreat I received spiritual healing and deliverance from God. You
see, I am a Pentecostal and we strongly believe that God still heals and
delivers people physically, mentally, and emotionally. Our group of ladies gathered
in a meeting room to hear a message from our speaker. After she finished we all
prayed, using a small wrapped package we were provided with as a symbol of all
the pain and hurt that we were then to give to God. In that prayer we also
asked God to heal and deliver us from those things we gave to him. That small
meeting room became our altar of prayer. I received my healing and deliverance
that night. After the prayer I felt as if an anvil had been lifted from my
heart and shoulders.
I used to spend my long
daily commute talking to God. Over the next few months I spent time asking God
to show me the healing He did in me so I could help someone else. God gave me visions of the healing and
deliverance he did in me. Now, whenever I read in the Bible where God gave
someone a vision it wasn’t just a gift, it was an assignment. I share the basic
details of those visions in my first book, Home Should Be Safe: Hope and Help
for Domestic Violence. I will go into more detail in my upcoming book, Roadmap
to Healing.
The experience of being
healed and delivered, then seeing spiritual visions, was an overwhelming and
personal encounter with God. I began journaling to work out my thoughts and
feelings. I also began studying the women of the Bible to learn what God expected
of me as a Christian woman. You see, I wasn’t raised by Christian parents, and
now as a divorced woman, I didn’t fit anyone’s concept
of what a Christian woman should be. Divorce was still uncommon in the
church at that time.
As I was studying, the
Holy Spirit prompted me to outline and organize what I was learning. “Why do
that?” I prayed. “No one is going to read my journal. “Just do what I ask,” the
Holy Spirit patiently prompted me. I obeyed and a Bible study formed which became a class I taught at my church. Later I wrote
the church newsletter, worked as a volunteer reporter with a local Christian
newspaper, and published a couple of articles in my denomination’s magazine, The Evangel.
In my daughter’s senior
year in high school I found myself suddenly unemployed. I decided to try to
pick up some freelance writing assignments while I was seeking a full time job. I sent out
my resumé and published clips to several local newspapers. I received a call
from one of them and was shocked when the editor asked me, “So, Ms. Raulston,
you’re seeking a job as a full-time reporter?” It took me about a heartbeat to
overcome the shock before I answered, “Yes sir, I am.” We met in his office the
next day and I began my job as an Education Reporter. That was August 2001. I
had been on the job for less than a month when 9/11 happened. I wrote many
articles about people who experienced that tragedy firsthand, in addition to my
education articles and general news articles. It was a great learning
experience. Over the next few years I published articles in several newspapers,
magazines, and web sites.
I also wrote many
articles on the subject of domestic violence, completed volunteer training as
well as college classes related to family violence. After my daughter went to
college I decided to write a “pamphlet” about domestic violence. I planned to present it at my denomination’s women’s
ministries to help people in the church understand the facts surrounding family
abuse. Over a period of nearly five years, combining my volunteer training, my
college classes, and my personal research, I realized I had much more than a
pamphlet. I had a book. When I moved to a larger city for a job, I joined a
Christian writer’s group and a Toastmaster’s club to hone my writing and
speaking skills.
I hired a friend who is
a professional writer/editor to edit my book. I hired another friend who was an
artist to create my cover art. I learned how to buy my own ISBN number for my
book. An editor friend referred me to his graphic designer to combine my cover
art, back copy, author photo and ISBN/Bar Code into my book cover. Then,
another friend offered to format the interior of my book at no charge. With so
many people willing to help me at either no charge or reduced fees, I knew God
was in this project. My last step was to find a book packager, a company that
simply prints and binds books. They are not publishers. I had become a
publisher.
I’ve become a Jack of
All Trades over the years, writing for churches, newspapers, magazines,
websites, publishing my book, and even writing speeches. Now I work full-time
as a technical writer. My goal is to write and publish more books to glorify
God as I use my newfound gifts. We hear so many stereotypes of abused women who
repeat the cycle, or who may get free but never find wholeness, or whose
children repeat the cycle of violence. But, God is good and he has blessed me
and my children with a whole new life I could never have imagined without his help
and guidance. To God be the glory!”
You can find out more
about Mina on her web site at www.minaraulston.com,
or on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and her blog at minaraulston@wordpress.com.
Award-winning
artist and author, blogger, editor, and interior designer Linda Lee Greene is
on social media at the following:
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/lindaleegreene
Email: lindaleegreene.author.artist@gmail.com
Twitter: @LLGreeneAuthor
Also look for her at LinkedIn and Google+
