Today’s guest is Laurie Sullivan, a survivor of emotional abuse and sexual infidelity at the hands of her husband, a prominent leader in several churches they attended. Laurie outlines her story from getting married at age nineteen to a man she loathed in childhood to eventually finding freedom years later. 

Christ is at the center of Laurie’s story, showing Himself to her throughout her custody battle for her children and her third marriage to a good man. Listen in to this eventful story of Laurie’s journey out from abuse. 

Key Points From This Episode:

• Why Laurie married a man she was originally disgusted with.
• How a pencil and a taco can demonstrate the concept of gaslighting. 
• Why dating someone for a long time doesn’t necessarily keep you safe from emotional abuse. Laurie’s second marriage is proof. 

Read the show notes and/or ask Natalie a question here

Related Resources:

• Check out Laurie’s full story in her book, Married by Myself: Living a Parallel Life with a Man Hiding Behind the Cloth. 
• Connect with Laurie on her website and on Facebook. 
• My newest book, All the Scary Little Gods, is a spiritual memoir about healing from religious trauma and toxic programming. 
• Are you wondering what is happening inside your own painful and confusing marriage? I wrote another book just for you called Is It Me? Making Sense of Your Confusing Marriage: A Christian Woman’s Guide to Hidden Emotional and Spiritual Abuse. 
• Flying Free is my online membership program designed for Christian women in emotionally abusive marriages. Whether you want to stay well in your marriage or leave, we want to equip and support you through this program.
• Flying Higher is my online membership program for divorced Christian women. Come rebuild your life after divorce with women just like you!
• Support the Flying Free podcast AND get in on monthly deep-dive discussions with podcast guests by joining the Flying Free Podcast Club for a $5 monthly donation HERE. (Members of Flying Free and Flying Higher can join these discussions FREE. Just reach out to me, [email protected], and we'll get you set up!) 

Born to two ministers, Laurie Sullivan was raised in faith that she embraced wholeheartedly at age four. Growing up with Jesus provided her a consciousness of God through every stage of development. She graduated from high school a year early and college with her B.S. degree in English Education to teach in her own classroom at 21. Nothing prepared her for the devastation ten months into her marriage to a youth minister, the man whose words and ambitions for Christ made her eyes shine with pride. Enter pornography, lies, deceit, young girls, and the murky waters of gaslighting. Now married and mother to eight, Nana to thirteen, she is a vibrant public speaker with a message of encouragement and hope to women who find themselves living a life they never dreamed of.