About me
'Grace on Fire' has been set up by Kelly Palmer, a Red Letter Christian and 'ordinary radical' living in the UK. A writer, therapist and mental health practitioner, Kelly believes in Jesus, justice, and that a better world is possible right here, right now. For all of us.
Kelly's story.
Born and bred in Coventry, I grew up in a working class British/Irish household, where exposure to both family conflict and love, divorce and domestic violence, alcoholism and altruism instilled in me both a passion for justice and a recognition of the forces that stand in its way. My family was dysfunctional and life often traumatising, but I never doubted I was loved. I learned early on that we are all both sinner and saint. My Anglican primary school and the church down the road taught me about God's grace and the radical compassion and vision for justice contained in the Gospel.
As a teenager however I struggled to hold on to my faith amidst sexual abuse in my wider family and the ensuing inner conflicts that developed as a result. In spite of my attempts to regain some stability - getting married at eighteen, becoming a mother and going to university to study Social Policy, at 22 I was in a psychiatric ward after a -mercifully failed - suicide attempt. God seemed a long way away, and exposure to more fundamentalist forms of religion had left me questioning the faith I grew up with.
Although I tried to piece my life together over the coming years - another child and a flourishing teaching career - I felt like I was holding on to my sanity by a thread, while going through the motions of life. My children and students were all that kept me going; my relationship had become abusive and he was continually unfaithful. I finally left, only to find things would get a lot worse before they got better.
After a horrifically violent attack that saw me and my daughter homeless in a womens refuge, the darkness in me took over for the next few years. I turned to drugs, lost my adored job, neglected my children and found myself in yet another abusive relationship. I was sexually exploited and deeply traumatised, lost in the depths of addiction, mental illness and despair.
Somewhere inside though, it was in those darkest moments that I turned back to God, my soul crying out. Slowly, I crawled my way back to life and in 2014 began 12 step recovery, left the toxic relationship and became a bestselling author. 12 step groups encouraged me to make God - however I understood it - the centre of my recovery program. The idea of returning to the faith that had been my refuge in childhood frightened me however, until my 12 step sponsor at the time took me to her church...
I now am remarried, with a beautiful three year old son, have retrained as a therapist and mental health worker and continue to have success with my writing career. I teach creative writing to those with addiction and/or mental health difficulties, knowing that telling our story can sometimes be the most powerful thing we can do.
The catalyst for both my amazing blessings and my dedication to working with others who have been through similar experiences was rediscovering Jesus - who, of course, had never left. I follow him stumblingly and imperfectly, but I follow.
I am a member of Red Letter Christians (see resources). I hold a Masters of Divinity in Feminist Theology and am (slowly) pursuing a doctorate in the same.