Abuse Hope and Healing

ABUSE HOPE & HEALING

PART 1

To write about such a big topic it would seem someone should be well educated and have plenty of training behind them, but that isn’t where I am coming from as I write this blog. I am coming from personal experience and a life time of learning. Maybe it could be said it is the school of Hard Knocks and I still haven’t graduated. Or maybe it could be said I come in my brokenness.

Without hope, writing this would be pointless. I am thankful there is more to an abused person’s story than ugly details. I write because there is hope when the “Light Shines in the Darkness”. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:4.  Those who read this and dislike any discussion that brings God into the picture, stay with me, you will find this is really where the answers to life difficult questions are found.

Let’s back up a few years to start.  We had a visiting preacher come to speak to our young people.  Not being in that category, I sat in the back and listened. He spoke of an example of a young girl being abused, from a passage in the bible.  It touched my heart deeply as I saw myself as a young girl many years ago being abused and realized how deeply sad this was. I visited with his wife afterward and was very broken as I shared with her a bit of my own story.  Fast forward a year and I wanted more information on what she had shared with me that day.  In a message she shared with me, she recommended a book which she had used at one time to help someone in her life who had  been abused. I ordered the book and started reading and researching and that started a chain of events that takes me to where I am today.

The book was “Mending The Soul” by Steven R. Tracy.  As I read through the book I became captivated by the information and the wisdom in the writings.  I went to their website (mendingthesoulministries.org) and ordered their dvd on how to use this material to help others.  Once I had received the DVDs and had watched them I realized that this whole program was going on in my home town of Phoenix, AZ. Since I had ordered the DVD they contacted me to see why I was interested in the training.  From there I learned that they were holding a training session in January right in Phoenix.  When you live in Iowa it is really easy to become interested in going to Phoenix in January.

This program was put together since there were so many hurting and broken people who needed help and there wern’t the resources needed for all to receive the necessary assistance.  This program helps hurting people help one another, yet always keeping in mind that some people do need professional help walking this road.

Another highly respected psychologist ,Dr. Larry Crabb, has written about his belief in people helping people rather than all burdened hearts seeking professional care. “Increasing care through lay counselors or lay caregivers is  a biblically based ministry as well as one that has received much research support. Research shows that lay counselors are effective in helping people with their problems in living.”

The Mending the Soul model is not counseling, but rather the facilitator walks with the group participant as they read the book and do the work book, their stories and their hearts connecting in healing.

I went through the training and then completed my own experience of going through the book and the work book. The more I read the more I loved the wisdom of how the 10 chapters were laid out as well as the searching questions that got into the dark places of my mind, heart and soul.

Just a sneak peak to the  second to last chapter:  I happened to be doing it on my 64th birthday, and it was such a day of rejoicing as I was made to understand what it really means to enjoy intimacy with God. I understood how much he loves everyone of us no matter how far down we have gone.  Just a quip from my thoughts that day: “ I have seen how the sinful fall of man has damaged our relationships with each other, thus distorting God, but God sent his son to die on the cross and bear our sins that our relationship with God might be restored and we can walk with God and learn more of Him in this new relationship

Nest Blog post will be my story of abuse.