The horrors our guest this week, Amanda Blackwood, endured almost from birth are hard to hear. Decades of physical, emotional and sexual abuse … but heartache was not the end of her story. Healing was.   Our interview with Blackwood, by necessity, covers the traumas she experienced being sex-trafficked on more than one occasion. But make no mistake about it: Amanda Blackwood may have been victimized, but she has emerged as anything but a victim. She fought for freedom from the demons of her past, assisted by therapy and her faith, to emerge as an author, artist and public speaker who offers hope to women who’ve been wounded by the same devastating crucibles.   “The first time I got up on a stage I had a speaking voice like a mouse,” she says. “But I found there was a lion in my lungs.”    To explore Beyond the Crucible assets, including our free Life of Significance assessment, visit www.beyondthecrucible.com   Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at [email protected]