About Me

I’m Azura Drora, “the one who in strength declares freedom.” It is a name rooted deep in Hebrew and Biblical history:

  • עֵזֶר (ezer) → the root of Azura, meaning to strengthen, to protect, or to come alongside in battle. Not passive aid, but active, life-giving support and empowered compassion, often used to describe God’s strength. The root ezer is most often translated “help” in the Old Testament and most often in reference to God such as in Psalms 33:20 – Our soul hath waited for Jehovah, Our help and our shield is He.
  • דְּרוֹר (dror) → the root of Drora, meaning freedom, liberty, release, especially after captivity or debt. Also evokes the dror bird—often interpreted as a sparrow or swift, symbolizing flight and peace.This root is often translated as “liberty,” as seen in both Leviticus 25:10 (and proclaim liberty throughout all the land) and Isaiah 61:1 (to proclaim liberty to the captives).

I am walking a journey I never imagined would be mine. Yet here I am. And if there is one thing that I have become passionate about as I travel this road, it is letting others know they are not alone. My personal story is not nearly as important as the collective stories of the millions of women who have had to face abuse, discrimination, and trauma at the hands of those who were supposed to be safe. It’s easy to want to compare. I go back and forth between wondering how a story with such unspeakable horrors could have been mine, and yet feeling so thankful that my story wasn’t as bad as what so many women endure. Both are true.

Here are a few things I can relate to personally:

  • Marriage of more than 20 years.
  • Ministry wife (a role I loved).
  • Having a large family, including adoption.
  • Feeling insecure in who I was, thinking I was not enough, that I was the cause of all the marriage and family issues.
  • Thinking I had a “good marriage,” that the hard things were the normal kind of hard. (They were not.)
  • I was not physically abused, in the sense that he never laid a hand on me. (My body was still affected.)
  • Medical struggles including autoimmune, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and just general stress that spilled out on my children in often toxic ways.
  • Praying for years for God to intervene, to make me better, to make him more loving.
  • Refusing to even consider the idea of divorce. I would always fight for my marriage.
  • Being both discarded (he asked for divorce first, I begged him to stay) and then later leaving him and filing.
  • Leaving the home and relationship without a plan.
  • I am a recipient of SO MUCH SUPPORT. From family. Church. Friends. Work community. They are why I can stand today.

Advocacy has become my passion. Because I had physical, social, emotional, and financial support, because I had a job, and because my children saw the value of leaving, I am in a good place today.

I spend a lot of time these days mentoring and encouraging other women who are facing abuse, abandonment, and confusion. I am overwhelmed with how God has provided in my life and my escape, and feel passionate about sharing that provision, encouragement, and strength with so many women who have no one else to be in their corner.

So much of what you read here will of course be affected by my story, but much of it comes from the stories and experiences of so many other women who I am blessed to have met, women whose experiences were all-too-similar to and yet also drastically different from mine. Please don’t assume that something I write passionately about was experienced first-hand by me. Thankfully, much of it wasn’t.

I never dreamed that divorce could possibly be part of my story. Yet it is, and I view it as one of the unfortunately-best things that ever happened to my family. My home is now a peaceful place. My children and I have a better relationship than ever before. I am sleeping at night. My autoimmune disease is calming down. My children are happy. We can breathe again. We are not perfect. We definitely still have our moments that we must apologize for. But we are healing. Growing. Thriving. And looking forward to a bright future!

It’s a miracle. Truly.

I thought I was broken. Our home was broken.

But now? Now we are healing. And that has made all the difference.

If you’re new here, I invite you to start with “A Broken Home No More” and then browse around from there!