Amen to all of that Cliff.
Abuse of children is so damaging. Myself, I was sexually abused from the time I was 6 to the time I was 12. Because of it, I developed a deep distrust of men, and sabotaged any relationship that might have developed with someone of the opposite sex. Over my high-school and young adult years, there were a couple of guys that looked past my walls, but even the most stalwart "knight in shining armor" couldn't get past the barriers that I threw up without even understanding why I was doing so.
It took years of healing, spiritual healing and emotional healing, in order for me to become Miss Right for some guy.
For me, it had to start with dealing with the abuser. My initial confrontation about the sexual abuse happened when I was about 22. At that point, he said he couldn't "remember" doing that to me...something he did with regularity for 6 years and he couldn't "remember"....yeah.
I could have turned him in, but decided against doing that because of the impact it would have had on my family. So, I decided to go the forgiveness route instead. That was a bit harder, because of the fact that he wouldn't acknowledge the abuse, but I did forgive him. I wrestled with God about it...but God just started showing me, through the Scriptures as well as through life in general that forgiveness and reconciliation would be better in the long run for me than bitterness and retaliation. So, I did forgive him and started to move on with my life.
The end result was that he too became a Christian and became a new man in Christ. Then full and complete forgiveness, reconciliation and healing took place.
But, the years of abuse did leave their scars and that didn't just "go away" just because I forgave my abuser and we reconciled. I still had a profound and deep seated mistrust of people in general and men in particular, especially when it came to relationships. The one guy I was engaged with, (and believe me, I thank God so often that the engagement broke off) was very mean-spirited to me and would say hurtful and hateful things to me and I would take it...just thinking that was what I had to put up with. And, even though he treated me like dirt...I have to admit, he was the one who broke things off. I wish I could say that I dumped him, but I didn't.
It took going through a time where I was completely alone...no dates, no potential dates, nothing....for me to truly work on my relationship with God and with myself to bring about full healing. I was probably about 31 at the start of this period of time and was 37 before I met my now husband. During that six years, I went out with one guy...and I went out with him about 6 months before I met Steve. And, I was the one who turned down the last date. He was a divorced guy with six kids and I found out why he left his wife...she bore him six children in 8 years of marriage and he left her because she was grumpy.
Leaving that relationship was a mark of true health for me...before I would have clung to him like Saran Wrap all the while acting like a crazy woman so that he would reject me.
*sigh* It's complicated to explain that...the clinging and yet acting crazy enough that any sane guy would reject me. But, that's what I did most of the time.
Every now and then though, even when I was still damaged, I could make the right decisions....SkyKing, you might be surprised to find out that the Manhattanite, the one I dated once and then turned down for a second date, looked remarkably like the guy in this picture you shared, except that David wouldn't be caught dead in such sloppy clothing...Hugo Boss for him, and for casual, Dockers with Cole Haan loafers.