Please Help a Youth - Feb. 28th

Please Read below, then mark your calendars for Tuesday, Feb. 28th, 4 - 7 pm CT, and SHARE. :)

I thought the hardest part was writing the book. Then clicking Submit on Amazon to turn the manuscript into a physical/digital book anyone could read. 😊

Now I’m at the second hardest point – asking for help.

On a recent podcast, I was asked to share a statistic – 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 10 boys will be in an abusive relationship (verbal, emotional, sexual, and/or physical abuse) between the ages of 16 – 24.

That’s staggering. But for days, I pondered, sometimes numbers sound like just a number. So I broke it down. In many school classrooms in the US, there are 30 students (at least large schools in Texas). Applying the statistic to one classroom, assuming half girls/half boys, that means 5 girls and 1-2 boys will be in an abusive relationship by the time they’re 24.

One is too many, let alone 5-6 in one classroom of thirty students. Then multiply that across each classroom in the school, the district, and the city. You get the idea. It’s a staggering number of teens and young adults that will be abused by another. In addition to the abuse, they’ll suffer short and long-term side effects. It will take hard work and counseling to overcome the abuse and effects to regain their mental and physical health.

WE CAN HELP.

By learning about the warning signs and sharing them with others, we can help people avoid and leave unhealthy and harmful relationships.

February is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. In honor of this month, on Tuesday, Feb. 28th, between 4-7 pm CT, please purchase a copy of the book, It Doesn’t Start with a Punch, on Amazon.

Why the book? Why this day and time?

The book is the story of my experience, told with research-based facts in a way that helps others understand the dynamics of a harmful or abusive relationship, recognize the warning signs, how to help, and how to leave safely.

I hope we get the book into the hands of people it can help. And really, if you’re a parent, Aunt, Uncle, brother, sister, grandparent, neighbor, teacher, youth director, pediatrician…YOU can help youth. It might not be your child or relative, but it could be their friend, a classmate, or a teen at church, in sports, etc.

As for the day and time, Amazon awards the Best Seller icon for the most books bought in an hour. The icon adds value to the book. For the person looking on Amazon for a resource, they'll be more likely to find it. I pray and pray it will help others.

So, here’s where we're asking for your help to help others.

Please share this page with others.
If you haven’t bought the book, on Tuesday, Feb. 28th, between 4 – 7 pm CT, please buy it (link to Amazon page)
If you’ve bought the book, (Thank you!), on Tuesday, Feb. 28th, between 4 – 7 pm CT, buy a copy to give to a relative, friend, teacher, school counselor/counselor/principal, youth director…anyone that may know a youth.
Ask friends to purchase the book.

It’s really hard to ask for all this. But I do believe God led me to share this difficult story to help others. And from comments and reviews, I believe it will.

Here are a few:

I wish I had something like this to read in my youth.
One of those heartful and helpful books that are so important to have access to!
Enlightening and Inspiring in a way that makes you aware of things you didn't know you needed to know.
This book should be a mandatory read for all high school freshmen.
An easy-to-read guide for others to recognize warning signs of abuse and talk about what healthy relationships should look like
I learned a lot and have shared this book with friends. Highly recommend!
Valuable information on how to and how not to get out of an abusive relationship
This book is bound to help others and may even save a life.
The book was truly an eye-opener to me as to how easily girls could fall into this kind of relationship and choose to stay in it for a long time.
I was a youth pastor for 23 years and experienced walking through abusive relationships with some of my teens, I wish I had this resource and insight into what they were going through.

THANK YOU! Thank You! For your help and support.

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25