When I found myself in a physically and mentally abusive relationship, I already had feelings for him. I did not take the red flags as seriously as I should have. I had no education in domestic violence. I had never been exposed to it. I did not realize that the person I was in a relationship with, who told me he loved me, was capable of the things that he put me through. I trusted him; that was my first mistake; I underestimated the red flags, my second mistake. Then I didn’t know how to seek help from anyone, my third mistake. To tell you the truth, I didn’t suspect that he was as dangerous as he was. By the time I was aware of his determination to control me and my life, I was so deep in the abuse that my rational thinking had suffered a significant loss. I had been through so much it started to feel normal. I did not know that there were organizations that could help a woman or man escape the traumatic devastation of being abused. It took such an enormous toll on me that I thought I would have to live like that for the rest of my life because I no longer had the strength or the ability to free myself. “Arise, shine, for the light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you” (Isaiah 60:1).