002: How Child Abuse Prepared Me for My Life Purpose with Suzette Wynder Bendt

Suzette is a poet, parent, prison guard, painter and custom quilter. Although a victim of child abuse, Suzette always heard the voice of God telling her she was loved and that He had a purpose for her life. In elementary school, she made a vow to never let a child pass her by without knowing that they are loved. She grew up to work with children as a juvenile detention officer working with boys in the state of Florida (many of them also suffering from child abuse) where she was known as “Officer Love”. As an adult she raised and/or fostered more than twenty children.

Suzette is a shining example of enduring the hardships of life and turning “lemons into lemonade.” She could have chosen hatred and resentment, but she did not.  Her ability to turn anguish into beauty is remarkable.

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Why bad things like child abuse happen to good people.
  • How to find and feel the Holy Ghost.
  • The importance of keeping one’s body “clean” in order to feel God’s spirit.
  • Terrible abuse that leads people to become abusers themselves.
  • Whether there are people who really “know not what they do” when it comes to abuse.
  • How praying about your art can really make a difference.

Resources Mentioned:

Quotes on a spiritual life before this one…

  • “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
  • “Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star, Hath had elsewhere its setting And cometh from afar; Not in entire forgetfulness, And not in utter nakedness, But trailing clouds of glory do we come From God, who is our home: Heaven lies about us in our infancy!” – Ode on Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood by William Wordsworth

Poems

Prayer of an Abused Child

Please take me home.
I do not want to be here anymore.
God, are you there?
Can you hear me?
I do not belong here.

God, why do I hurt so bad inside?
Why do I have to stay?
Why can’t I go with you?
I want to go away.

My dollies are no longer fun.
My friends I no longer play.
Why do I hurt so bad inside?
I want to go away.

Why am I so bad, dear Lord?
I really do not want to be.
If I could just go home with you
So perfect I would be.

Please hold my hand and walk with me.
Take me far away
So I can laugh, and run, and play.
No longer feel this way.

Spirit as a Rose

Daily water, daily sun
Watch me grow
Holding tight the kingdoms come
Watch me grow
Reaching out along the way
Giving beauty every day
Watch me grow

As the rose reaches out to the sun
So does man to God.
Nourishing our bodies with scripture;
The rose is water.
Lighting our way with prayer;
The rose is sun.
We shall blossom as a rose
And as a rose supplies nectar to the bees,
So shall man supply nectar to man.
And even as a rose
Man is periodically cut down.

As long as he feeds and is enlightened,
He shall grow stronger than the year before.
And the beauty he leaves will be remembered
And live on forever more.
As the rose reaches for the trellis,
So shall man reach for His kingdom.

Freedom Lies

Freedom lies within the man
Brave enough to take a stand.
Stand away from scars untold.
Stand away from fear so bold.
Brave enough to fix the wrong.
And go the way with freedom’s song.

Will I be the joy or sorrow?
Will I be the pain or peace?
Will I be the love and comfort
Or be that of the least?

All my tomorrows are now at hand.
I shall choose to take a stand.
I will be the joy.
I will be the peace.
I will be the comforter
And to give the love at least.

Freedom song is that of choice.
Freedom lies within the man
Brave enough to take a stand.
Life’s Battle

Walking along life’s battle front,
Unshaken I will be.
For ahead of the battle cry
Lies victory for me.

Immovable forces I have behind,
The throne shall honour be.
My sword held high,
“Perseverance!” I cry.
“My blood will I shed for thee.”

No battle is so hard,
No wound so deep
That faith shall not endure.

The child you sent,
The man shall be.
It is steadfast,
Ever steadfast for me.

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