Fulfilled… Book Review & Giveaway!

This book.

Wow!

From the opening paragraph of the introduction, I was captivated by the words of author Danise Jurado. She demonstrates our need for God, and His gentle and compassionate heart for those who are hurting.

She shares her experience of coming to God, recognizing her need for all that He has to offer. “It’s my favorite place,” she says, “because I am safe here. In the arms of unconditional love…”

These powerful words speak directly to my heart. For much of my life, I have struggled with feeling unsafe. The promise of safety in the loving arms of my Savior touched something within, sparking hope for discovering deeper levels of healing and freedom.

Loving the Little One…

I have a confession.

Although I’ve loved sharing my journey of learning to discern God’s voice, and my passion for reaching my new friend Jeffrey with the truth of the gospel, I have also been avoiding.

Avoiding the pain of pushing forward on the journey toward healing. The pain of inviting Jehova Rapha, the God who heals, to expose the next layer of my brokenness, and to dispel the darkness with His glorious light.

I have been untrue to the mission of Incremental Healing. I have failed, for the past while, to share the hope that I have found as my heavenly Father leads me on the path toward healing. I have not offered reassurance that you are not alone, or encouraged you to persevere.

For this, I am deeply sorry.

While I will still share on other topics from time to time, I do not want to lose the focus of this place.

So, with all that said, I am ready to share another chapter of my story…

Stones of Remembrance… And Invitation!

Welcome, Sweet One! I am so glad you’re here! I am both nervous and excited to share what God has been speaking to my heart over the last little while. He began by revealing a fascinating aspect of His character – that He is a God who absolutely loves stories. Does that truth captivate your heart the way it does mine?

Can you imagine sitting at His feet someday, and listening as He shares stories of our time on Earth – perhaps explaining the abundant blessing that poured out of our hardships, although we could not recognize it at the time? Imagine Him smiling fondly at you, and asking you to share about a time you were faithful – simply because He is so proud of you, and wants the others listening to hear! These thoughts fill my heart with anxious anticipation of that day!

Extend Grace…

Have you ever realized something about yourself that made you cringe inwardly?

A sudden awareness of your very human and flawed self?

Today, I did.

I sensed God showing me an area of hypocrisy in my life. And gently encouraging me to listen as He shared His perspective on the situation.

Love of a Father…

It shouldn’t surprise me.

This wondrous love of my heavenly Father.

Yet, somehow, it never ceases to amaze me when He reveals the fullness of His affection.

During a meeting with my Pastor last week, I shared that I have been feeling ‘stuck’ in my journey toward healing. I know that I have made tremendous gains in coming to understand the depths of God’s love for me. He has graciously surrounded me with love and support over the past few months, especially from many of you who have blessed me beyond measure with beautiful words of encouragement. Although there have still been difficult days, it has made a world of difference knowing that you are there to compassionately ‘listen’ as I share my heartache and brokenness. So thank you!

My loving, heavenly Father has also blessed me with a renewed strength that I know could only have come from Him. He has helped me to stand firmly against the lies of the evil one, saving me from spiraling downward into the pit of despair. I truly have much to be thankful for!

But the sense of being ‘stuck’ persists. The journey feels stagnant. There has been little, if any, moving forward. As he often does when there is no straightforward answer, my Pastor suggested we pray and ask God why things seem to have been put on hold.

He Knows…

This week.

What are we to make of it all?

Are we so familiar with the events of Easter that it has become just another Bible story to us? Do we have any grasp of the great price that was paid? Any realization of our utter depravity – that we were hopelessly drowning in our sins, and completely unworthy of this extravagant act of grace?

He loved us anyway, dear one.

Fully. Lavishly. Perfectly.

Do you believe it?

His Precious One…

Welcome dear friends!

I am honored to be guest posting as part of a series on depression at Lisa Brown’s blog, Me Too Moments for Moms.  Lisa is one of many wonderful people I have met over the past couple of months, since I began blogging. She has done an absolutely beautiful job putting this series together, which shares real life stories of depression, as well as God’s love and presence through it all. These stories are heartbreaking at times, yet abounding in hope. I encourage you to read them. It is with great humility that I share her introduction, followed by my experience of dealing with depression…

Innocence Punished…

In a previous post (Child Forsaken), I shared a recurrent nightmare that haunted me throughout my childhood. The dream began during the period of time when I was being abused. It would rip me violently from sleep, and leave me trembling in the darkness of my room.  Alone…

I often woke up in a panic, my heart racing and drops of sweat running down my face. Though I was trembling with fear, I didn’t dare cry out for my parents. I was afraid that if they found out about the dream, they would find out about the abuse as well. I worried that they would be angry and would punish me severely. I was convinced that they would stop loving me if they knew.

Perhaps you wonder what was behind this fear. It may seem so unnatural that a small child would wake up from such a terrorizing dream and not cry out in fear for her parents.

I had my reasons.

Child Forsaken…

Ever since I was a little girl, I have been plagued by nightmares.

One dream was particularly disturbing. It began during the period of time when I was being abused, and would often rip me violently from sleep. I would wake up terrified, my heart racing.

A Season of Despair…

“It’s all my fault” I protested. “Other five-year-olds wouldn’t even know what was happening to them, but my dad warned me about this. He made me promise to say no, and to tell. But I didn’t listen. Don’t tell me it’s not my fault. I knew better, but I did it anyways. And I kept going back. Don’t you understand,” I sobbed. “I went back.”

My body racked with sobs of anguish. For decades these hideous secrets had been locked away from a world too unsafe to trust…

The months that followed that meeting (see Lies I Believe) were some of the darkest of my life. Throughout the day, memories of my past consumed my thoughts. Despite the best efforts of the Pastor and my husband, I continued believing the lies that I was repulsive, stupid, and broken beyond repair. I was convinced that I was unworthy of being loved, and that I was to blame for all the ‘bad things’ that had happened to me.