Finding God in Our Pain

Navigating the Journey to Spiritual Maturity, with Dr. Sheila Jackson

Summary:

*Faith and Surrender: Both speakers highlight the importance of faith, surrendering one's will to God, and trusting Him even when it requires personal sacrifice and letting go of one's own desires.

*Discerning God's Voice: Identifying God's voice involves aligning it with Scripture and recognizing the fruits of the Spirit, while being cautious of one's own desires potentially deceiving them.

*Spiritual Dreams and Visions: Dr. Sheila explains that dreams and visions connect believers to the spiritual realm, can be used for personal guidance or intercession for others, and should be journaled for clarity and interpretation.

*God's Unfailing Support: The conversation concludes with the affirmation that nothing is impossible with God, and He is always willing to go to great lengths to support and guide His followers, even in their most challenging times.

INTRO TO THE EPISODE:
Life can throw some seriously tough curveballs. When it does, it’s our spiritual foundation that can make all the difference. My guest Dr. Sheila Jackson is an intercessor, a prophetic voice, Biblical teacher, and an Associate Pastor. Additionally, she founded the Wind Spirit Soul Prophetic School in 2006, dedicated to training prophetic vessels, people just like you and I.

In this episode I had the privilege of sitting down with her to unpack what it really means to be spiritually mature, how to hear from God, and why faith and prayer are so crucial. We had a very relaxed conversation exploring God’s Word and His heart for us as we pursue an intimate relationship with Him.

Dr. Sheila opened up about the journey to spiritual maturity, describing it as a process of developing a deeper relationship with God and transforming into His image. It's about embodying the character of God, showing love, patience, and kindness, and living it out. It’s not just about knowing these virtues intellectually. It’s about putting them into action. Being the hands and feet of the Lord.

Dr. Sheila shared her struggles with submitting her will to God. Boy, can I relate to that! Dr. Sheila, someone who’s always made things happen, found it tough to let go and trust God, especially when His plans didn't align with her desires. She candidly admitted that it’s easy to obey God when His will matches ours, but the real test comes when He asks us to give up something we deeply want. It’s in those moments of surrender that we grow the most.

We also delved into the intricacies of discerning God’s voice amidst the noise of our own desires and the enemy’s deceptions. Dr. Sheila emphasized that God’s voice always aligns with Scripture and is rooted in love and truth. Yet, when our desires are strong, it’s easy to be deceived. She shared personal stories, including a poignant one about almost marrying the wrong person because she mistook her own desires for God’s will. It’s a humbling reminder that we need to constantly renew our minds and seek God’s guidance with a pure heart.

We touched on the mysterious realm of spiritual dreams and visions. As we talked about discerning God’s voice from the voice of the enemy in the context of dreams and visions, I share my experience with a dream that until now, I’ve only told my sister about. It has to do with satan injecting himself into my dream and God breaks the communication.

But these spiritual dreams and visions aren’t just for the prophets of old; they’re a way God communicates with us today. Dr. Sheila encouraged us to journal our dreams and visions, as they often contain messages from God meant for prayer and intercession, not just for the sake of knowing. It’s a practice that connects us to the spiritual realm and helps us align our lives with God’s purpose.

If you’re a Christian who gets uncomfortable with the thought of moving in the spiritual realm; you have a spirit; you’re already part of the spiritual realm. As you pursue the Lord, and you receive discernment from the Lord it is of the spirit. A relationship with God is spiritual so there’s no reason to fear it and besides In Ephesians 12 it tells us who we battle. We do not fight against flesh and that the real fight is rooted in, and based on the spiritual realm.

So the journey to spiritual maturity is about constant growth, surrender, and the courage to seek God’s will above our own. It’s a path filled with challenges and detours, but also with profound revelations and deeper intimacy with God. As Dr. Sheila so beautifully put it, “There’s nothing impossible with God.” And that’s a truth worth holding onto, most especially as we learn to grow in relationship with God. So no matter where you are on your spiritual journey God delights in us as we journey to His heart.

Lived Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com 

Connect with Dr. Sheila Jackson:
Facebook: https://www.facebook/joshua2715
Email: sheilajac12@yahoo.com
Email: windspiritsoul28@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-sheila-jackson-ed-d-99116a29/

Bio:
Dr. Jackson holds an Ed.D. in Transformational Leadership from Concordia University and an M.S. in Business Administration from Central Michigan University. After nearly 15 years as a Corporate Buyer for General Motors, she transitioned into education and ministry. With over 20 years of ministry experience, Dr. Jackson has served as an intercessor, prophetic voice, Biblical teacher, and Associate Pastor. She founded the Wind Spirit Soul Prophetic School in 2006, dedicated to training prophetic vessels. Dr. Jackson also expanded her ministry internationally and is a staff instructor with The Prophetic Empowerment Network. She is a mother, grandmother, and spiritual mentor to many.

Joining Jesus Christ in His Pursuit of Your LBGTQ Identified Child, With Melinda Patrick

Points of Discussion:

Melinda emphasizes the importance of prayer and surrender to God, highlighting that your LGBTQ identified child’s same-sex attraction itself isn't a sin, but acting on it is, and her main prayer is for her daughter's holiness rather than heterosexuality. Melinda emphasizes that a parent's responsibility is to love, pray for, and support their child, but not to control or fix them, as transformation is God's role.

The conversation covers practical steps for parents, such as setting boundaries with love, having open and honest conversations, and not compromising biblical truths, while still showing unconditional love and support to their children.

Melinda shares her personal experiences and the transformation in her relationship with her daughter, advocating for the pursuit of Jesus and intimate prayer as key elements in walking this difficult journey.

The show notes include resources, as well as Melinda’s links where you can purchase her book, sign up for her newsletter, follow her podcast etc. If you sign up for her newsletter you can find out where she’s speaking next and the various events that are available for parents dealing with similar situations. 

Podcast Intro:

My guest Melinda Patrick is multi-talented on many levels. She is a podcast host of two podcasts, one of which is The Bridge Between Us: Loving Your LGBTQ Identified Child Without Compromising Truth. Melinda is a writer, an international speaker and she recently added author to her writing credentials in early 2024 when she published, The Daring Rescue: Joining Jesus Christ in His Pursuit of Your LGBTQ Identified Child’s Heart.

What I believe makes Melinda successful at connecting with people and loving them well is her passion to love Christ first and foremost; to discover His heart and to willingly make her own heart transparent so that the Lord can write His love story with her, onto/into her own heart.

I’m going to try and make this intro super short because I want to get right into all the information and insight that Melinda has to share but I am excited about everything she shared so hopefully I can contain myself. May you have ears to hear all that the Holy Spirit shares through her. Listen to this episode a couple of times because you don’t want to miss anything. From practical advice, deep wisdom, a parent's insight, knowledge of how to navigate this sensitive topic with God, you simply do not want to miss anything.

Here are just a few of the questions she addressed:  What is the parent’s responsibility? Is it our job, the parent's job, to save our child? Is there any hope for relationship if our child doesn’t want to be saved? What is the difference between desiring our child to change vs our child being transformed? How do we navigate hard conversations? Melinda says we need to define some words as the basis of hard conversations. I think we can all agree that in this particular time and culture, words have been hijacked and they no longer mean what they used to mean. 

My biggest take away from our conversation was personal. I loved how her experience of allowing God to challenge her heart, her fears and her pride was in line with what I am discovering about the Lord myself.

Taking our emotions, fears, lie based thinking and all the ways we feel/believe that God should/would/could answer our prayers and we pause. We bring Him our pain and our hard questions, expose what our heart believes, we get real about our motives with the One who thoroughly knows these things about us. 

God’s not afraid of our emotions. He gave us emotions and I personally believe they also serve as an alarm system of sorts. Emotions let us know when we need to engage the heart of God for His truth and healing. In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the word says, "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  In short, we bring God our pain and we allow Him to speak His truth/His Word into that pain and it redefines what we’ve built our false belief system on.

I can’t express to you the level of freedom, peace, truth, love that is available to you through this process of trusting God with our pain. Actually, here’s a perfect example. Let’s jump into my conversation with Melinda! What you see, in this case what you hear, is what you get in real life with her. 

Listen in and be encouraged by her passion for the things of God because He’s doing a deep revelatory work in this woman’s heart and you get to glean the wisdom.

Live Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Related Podcast Topics:
Melinda Patrick (May 16, 2021): Christian Mom Whose Daughter has Same Sex Attraction - https://alifeofthrive.com/2021/05/16/same-sex-attraction/
Sherrie Pilkington (Solo Podcast Episode): Micro Moments With God To Grow Relationship Intimacy - https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/08/14/micro-moments-with-god-to-grow-relationship-intimacy/
Rachel Fahrenbach, Practicing Rest, Practicing Sabbath - https://alifeofthrive.com/2021/10/27/sabbath/
Complicated Questions (Blog Post): https://alifeofthrive.com/2019/07/22/complicated-questions/

Connect with Melinda:
Author of The Daring Rescue: Joining Jesus Christ In His Pursuit Of Your LGBTQ-Identified Child's Heart
Host of The Bridge Between Us Podcast and The Even While Podcast
Opt-in for Living Life, Waiting Well Newsletter
Opt-in for The Bridge Between Us Newsletter
melindapatrick.org

Bio:
Having a child involved in the LGBTQ community for more than 11 years, Melinda Patrick knows what it is like to grieve the choices our loved ones have made and understands the helplessness we feel when things aren't as we had hoped. Through her healing journey and healing relationship with her daughter, she is passionate about emboldening and equipping parents to join God where He is at work in their lives and families.
 
Melinda Patrick provides parent support for His Wonderful Works, Inc., is the host of the award-winning
podcast - The Bridge Between Us, author of The Daring Rescue: Joining Jesus Christ In His Pursuit Of Your LGBTQ-Identified Child's Heart and serves on the board for Restored Hope Network. She is an international speaker who often speaks at family conferences, church ministry events, and parent groups to equip families and the church to love well while not compromising Truth.

Micro Moments With God to Grow Relationship Intimacy

Discussion Points:
*Host, Sherrie discusses a Bible Study titled "Do You Love Me? Exploring Our Relationships with God and Others" by Debbie Swindall, facilitated by Amy Heilman of Breathe Deep Ministries, which has deeply impacted her relationship with God.
*Sherrie emphasizes the importance of making intentional time to engage with God, especially during emotional or challenging moments, to discover His love and purpose for us.
*She shares her journey of finding peace and intimacy with God, highlighting the challenges of slowing down and truly resting in Him, rather than merely checking off religious tasks.
*The episode encourages listeners to seek God's presence in every micro moment, using specific action steps to process emotions and receive God's grace and guidance, ultimately experiencing a more peaceful and fulfilling life.

Podcast Episode/Transcript: This is going to be a short episode but it was important enough for me to make it an episode because I had to share this study with you. It’s titled, Do You Love Me? Exploring our relationships with God and others by Debbie Swindoll. Published by Grafted Life Ministries. From what I can discern it’s been around since 2014; I have the 3rd edition published in 2018.

Have you ever had the opportunity to participate in this particular bible study? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts, your takeaway. This is the first time I’ve ever described a bible study as sweet. The most tender hearted bible study I’ve ever been a part of. When I say tender hearted, it’s because of the way it reveals the Father’s love for us, His heart to know us and for us to discover Him. The point that was highlighted for me, was the simplicity of what God requires of us in order to know Him more. Then I was perplexed because I treat it with such difficulty.

Because of the way I’ve grown in my intimacy with Christ (after doing this bible study) I wanted to make you aware of it as well. Should you want to participate I can definitely get you in contact with my friend who is the founder of Breathe Deep Ministries, Amy Hellman. I don’t receive any type of compensation for connecting you with her. Her contact info will be in the show notes. She’s not the publisher nor the author but she facilitates this study.

You may be familiar with Amy’s name because she has been on my podcast a couple of times. A few years back she was a guest and we talked about her book Soul Stripper. It’s a free download online. It is her personal story of how God works with us to strip us of (by way of healing) the various ways we’re attached to this world. As well as the ways we attempt to satisfy our flesh or people please etc. and she moves us into finding our identity in Christ, a strong identity in Him alone.

Also, she did one other episode where she took the mic to interview me about my first year of podcasting, asking me questions about all that I had learned through the messages that my guests had shared. That would have been in Sept. of 2021, which reminds me, I’m putting together some pretty exciting things for my 4 year anniversary in September of this year! I’ll keep you posted.

And then lastly, real quick with Amy you may have heard me speak of finding, what I considered and it has proven true, my last layer of healing from abandonment issues. Part of my journey with finding healing for various things associated with my childhood. Amy walked me through Theophostic Prayer and using that healing model the Lord gave me a vision.

I’ve talked about the vision before so I won’t repeat it again, so we can get to the purpose of this episode but engaging the Holy Spirit through Theophostic prayer and the vision of the Lord’s presence (in a very scary time as a child), broke off the last bit of pain associated with abandonment. All that to say this, the reason I even know anything about this study is because I’m currently seeing Amy for Spiritual Direction counseling and she offered me this study and I gladly joined in and boy am I happy I did.

The Lord has been calling me into these pockets of quiet time with Him. As He’s doing that it’s never been more obvious to me that my challenge is to slow down. Rest. Rest in Him. Rest with Him.

I actually thought I was slowing down because my typical pace and the fact that I was making time to engage the Holy Spirit showed a marked difference in my life even from a couple of years ago. I’m thinking I’m doing the thing and knocking it out of the park but something just stayed under the surface that simply did not sit right. A feeling of doing the thing but still missing out. Not getting the full expression, the full experience. However, I simply couldn’t put my finger on what was possibly missing.

I’m reading the word, I’m making a joyful noise unto the Lord singing praise and worship music, praying for my family/friends, I go to church etc. I’m checking off the good Christian girl checklist. Well, I did the Christian checklist for many years but at this time in my life I would not have called it that because my heart is head over heels in love with Jesus.

I love my time with the Lord. I’m no longer trying to perform to earn His affection or make sure I’m maintaining His approval. He has seen me at my absolute worst. And not just once. But countless times. He has yet to turn away. As an example of my affection for the Lord, in this particular season of my life, I am very content, very happy and I have a deep rooted peace in my soul. I need nothing and I want nothing. He has my full attention and I wait on Him to direct my life.

So it was in those quiet times with the Lord, that the missing something seemed to be more prominent when I rushed the wrap up of my time with Him. I would enjoy my bible reading and prayer time but in the mornings I’d get to a certain point and then I’d be up and into something else so quickly I was left wondering if I even told the Lord, "I love you?!"

When I’d have my quiet time with the Lord in the evenings, it often ended with me going to sleep and not remembering if I even finished my prayers. I would fall asleep in the middle of praying or simply talking to God about something or reading His word. It’s not that I felt condemned because if you have children, is that not the sweetest thing you can experience; your children so content with you that they will let their guard down, and surrender to the day, falling asleep with you nearby.

However, I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I’m missing out on something. That Jesus intended more for me. But what was missing?

It’s intriguing to me that the simplicity with which we have access to the heart of God as He sits on His sovereign throne and yet in real time our actions say it’s incredibly difficult. Maybe on a subconscious level, we believe it to be a, too good to be true, scenario and so our heart discredits it so that it carries no weight in our life?

Or maybe it’s that God’s goodness and kindness are always available and so we take it for granted. It’ll always be there so it’s no rush, I’ll get to it when I can. I know I’ve treated God that way. The Creator of all things wants to know me and I have “better things” more pressing things to do. As I say that out loud it’s incredibly humbling. It’s mind boggling that I pass up these moments with such ease. Even if I experience a flash of guilt, it’s simply that, a flash.

Because the truth is, as a daughter of the One True King of kings and Lord of lords, the One who has no rival and no equal that you can picture yourself running up to the throne room doors and not only do the armed guards step aside they open the massive doors without a question. You run toward your Father. No one stops you as you climb up the steps, probably stepping all over His royal train that fills the throne room. Into His lap you sit and you begin to tell Him about your day and He is absolutely delighted that you have chosen to come and sit with Him.

If you’re a parent, you can imagine or maybe you know the feeling when your children chose to spend time with you OR when your children choose lesser things (like video games or being on their phone). We’ve all heard it said that one of our biggest mistakes is that we think we have time….but time is a resource that quickly evaporates.

Many times I have questioned, you’ve heard me ask on my podcasts, why-oh-why do we choose lesser things than the perfection that God offers us. After engaging this study I have the answer!

Many of you already have the answer but God is so kind to us in the way He brings revelation to us as the individuals He created us to be. Sometimes, things just click and you have a DUH moment. Like, I knew that part and that part but now it’s all come together for a much clearer understanding. Maybe that’s when you move from the duh moment to the ah ha moment.

Why do we choose lesser things compared to what God has for us? Because in this life we will deal with the flesh and yet our soul knows there’s something more. We are made mind, body and soul/spirit. We’re trapped in an earthly body, with a soul that longs for heaven and our mind is the battlefield. We straddle this world with our flesh and the spiritual world with our spirit.

There is an intentional action, an intentional choice, in the battleground of the mind that takes us from being controlled by the flesh to walking in the fullness of who God created us to be but let’s look at the details of what we’re working against first.

In this place between discovering what we were created for and heaven, we fight against the desires of the flesh because the flesh that we’re wrapped-in is broken and sinful; it wants what it wants using the quickest, least resistant path to immediate gratification and yet our soul intuitively knows there is something more.

In our DNA, God placed His image and therefore a natural desire for Garden of Eden moments. Our soul longs for beauty, truth, life, relationship, love, joy, etc. etc so the soul searches and its first access point is to use the flesh to find it. Our emotions, our 5 senses, the world around us…it’s natural to us, God gave us those things….but this is why the Lord says we must be born again, that we need to die to our flesh, that we need to pick up our cross and follow the Lord. As uninviting as that sounds always remember you are never alone in the process. You have the very presence of God and our biggest trials bring the most beautiful rewards.

In the midst of choosing lesser things over taking those incremental steps toward discovering and fulfilling what you were created for, which is rooted in discovering God’s heart for you, you can be encouraged that God is never offended, never mad, nor does He want to teach you a lesson. We can learn plenty of hard knock lessons from following our flesh…God doesn’t need to do anything to us, there’s plenty of teachable moments in one days time based on how we personally engage life….one micro decision at a time, throughout any given day.

In the moments when our feelings and/or our emotions are driving us, it’s time to take breath, maybe a couple of breaths, and grab a few minutes with Holy Spirit. This juncture (of environment and our emotion) is the place where we can interrupt old patterns, challenge lie based thinking and negative reactions. Because the truth is, if we do not create a space in which we give God our emotions and allow Him to filter them with His truth we will, without fail, end up creating survival skills and self-coping vices (based on our own limited understanding/experiences) that we think are helping or at the very least, protecting us.

When we don’t take responsibility by way of making time to heal from our past traumas, emotional and mental scars, all the affects of living in a broken world and with our self-imposed survival skills and self-coping vices we will stay in our own dry, dusty desert for 40+ years just like the Israelites. God is with us but our eyes are never seeing and our ears never hear.

Sadly, trauma never leaves on its own. The grip of that which seeks to steal, kill, and destroy has to be evicted. You have to break agreement with it, cast it out when necessary. You’ve heard me say this before, we’re not responsible for what has been done to us but we are responsible to find the healing we need and to not give up until we are walking in God’s peace, healing and redemption.

When you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and invited Him to live in your heart, you gained access (through Jesus) to now discover who you were created to be. Something that had been hidden from you as a prior enemy of Christ.

Now with direct access to the throne of God, you have the opportunity to discover how He knit you together in our own mother’s womb. What is it about you that is most like God? What gifts and talents mirror His creative heart? What are your core charateristics that align with Him?

As you go on this adventure with Christ and He reveals your gifts, talents, skills and He begins to open doors and create certain connections and relationships, He will reveal this things and teach you how to steward them with Heaven’s value system vs our own value system. He will reveal it little by little so that you can digest and apply what He is showing you. Hence the lifelong adventure of relationship and His revelation after revelation.

The simplicity with which we can know the depths of God’s love for us and who He created us to be, what we were created for, the different seasons He’s calling us into, what our gifts and talents are… comes down to this, time.

To make time, is the intentional action, the intentional choice in the midst of the emotional and mental battleground of the mind that takes us from being controlled by the flesh to walking in the fullness of who God created us to be.

Not time checking off the good Christian girl to do list with the just get it done heart posture. The result of that type of investment is fake at best and you can expect your return to be empty as well; ask me how I know. Take the time to be still and discover the type of Father who loves you. Intimacy grows over time and engagement.

In every circumstance of your life and in every micro moment that you have an emotion or a question about who you are, maybe you’re being challenged in an area where you’re weak, or your moments when you feel disconnected, overwhelmed and you’re loosing hope. Pause, be still, breathe, turn your heart and mind toward Jesus. Engage God/Jesus/Holy Spirit (you can start with any one of the 3), invite Him in, ask Him what is this I’m feeling. Why am I feeling this?

If He reveals it (because sometimes He simply gives you encouragement in the moment to endure and/or He offers His reassurance that He’s with you and He’ll see you through) ... so when the time comes that He reveals it, ask Him to help you. And maybe this might be the most challenging part of the process is to accept His grace as you are stepping into who He’s called you to be.

Most of the time it’s not a flawless transition. Here’s what I think is the perfect example of this journey we’re on. Adam and Eve started off living in intimacy with God. They had daily, face to face conversations with God. He was present 24/7, and they rejected Him. We’re born in the condition of having rejected Him and we’re on the journey to return to the benefits of the Garden of Eden. Daily, direct access spirit to spirit or heart to heart with God. He’s present 24/7 and He waits for our invitation for Him to join us in our darkest, most painful places of life.

Nothing about this life, our existence, our challenges, how we use our gift of choice etc. has God concerned, confused or disengaged. Nor is He overwhelmed or disgusted. No. God knows marriage is hard. God knows that the various types of handicaps or physical illness will cause us to question who He is. He knows the evil that people do to one another. Heat breaking yes, but He’s the God who walks among His people

He’s never taken off guard and you know why? Because He’s already put those things to death in the spiritual and He wants you and I to know and experience it too. He wants those Garden of Eden moments with us.

He’s saying, babe, will you bring that to me? Will you trust me with that pain, that emotion, your reaction? I’ve already healed that on the cross but I want you to allow me to walk you through your personal pain because I want you to experience, first-hand, the healing I’ve provided. I want you to see how much I love you as you let me dismantle the lie based thinking or the painful memories you have. I give double for the what the enemy has robbed you of. I take the very thing that satan wanted to destroy you with and I flip it producing good things in your life. I bring redemption, I bring restoration.

Allow me to remind your heart of Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Making time is a challenge. Accepting God’s grace as a way of life is humbling and therefore it struggles against our pride/our flesh, but there may be an even bigger challenge for the flesh and that is to have the courage to see God for who He really is. Not who we want Him to be and not who we think He should be. It threatens our flesh because we may have to redefine some foundational things we have been building our life on. I actually think it might even be more scary to change direction when we realize that some of our foundational blocks have been lies.

All the more reason to give God space (by being still) and allow Him to reveal Himself to us in every context of life, most especially in the context of pain and suffering. If we can do that and actually embrace who He is even though it may be in direct opposition to what we thought would be, or what we want it to be … that’s the place of transformation, where we step into more and more of who we were created to be. Where we find the kind of purpose that even if it’s the hardest thing we’ve ever done, we’ve never felt more alive, fulfilled and rewarded.

(side note: God moves in unique ways with us as the individual He created us to be but what we experience or the revelations we receive with Him will never contradict God’s character and nature. If you feel that God is revealing Himself and it is in opposition to His word, question the source. If not inline with God, it is not of Him).

Do you have the courage today to give God those micro moments of engagement with the emotions or feelings that need some healing, maturing; things that need a closer inspection even though it will challenge the way you perceive yourself? I would encourage you to start today and try to catch yourself in those type moments. Interrupt where those emotions will take you. Pause, breathe and engage God with these 3 actions steps/conversation that were in the study (I’ve added some of my words for the way I shared this message but they are in the same in nature).

1. God, what is happening with regard to what I’m experiencing or feeling?
2. God, help me to perceive what you reveal and give me courageous ears to hear.
3. God, show me what your grace looks like in this moment.

And I’d even add this question for God ... Who do you want to be for me in this situation?

The more time we spend with God to process the impact or purge the residue of this life, the more peaceful, and the more beautiful life becomes. We don’t have to wait for heaven to enjoy the heart of the Father, the joy of the Son, Jesus nor the wisdom/revelations of Holy Spirit. We can know a slice of heaven, a small taste of the Garden of Eden in the here and now. All it takes are micro moments of pausing, of investing our time in the heart of God. When we do, we watch our meager offer, our 5 loaves and 2 fish if you will, multiplied beyond our imagination.

Live Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Resources:
Breathe Deep Ministries/Amy Hellman - https://www.breathedeepministries.org/
Grafted Life Ministries: Graftedlife.org

 

Related Podcast Episodes:
In the Presence of God (w/Kevin White): https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/03/02/presence/
Here’s How Psalm 23 Showed Me God’s Faithfulness (w/Sherrie Pilkington): https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/08/17/heres-how-psalm-23-showed-me-gods-faithfulness/
Can I (or Anyone) Ruin God’s Plan for My Life? (W/Sherrie Pilkington): https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/04/24/can-i-or-anyone-ruin-gods-plan-for-my-life/

Related Bog Posts:
Investing in Relationship: https://alifeofthrive.com/2020/11/03/investing-in-relationship/
Relationship is Simple But it Takes Courage: https://alifeofthrive.com/2019/03/11/relationship-is-simple-but-it-will-take-courage/

Breaking Cycles of Abuse and Trauma, with Lindsey Smith

Bullet Points:
*Impact of Trauma: Lindsey details the profound effects of her childhood trauma on her mental health, relationships, and self-worth. She describes how these experiences led to severe anxiety, depression, and feelings of shame, impacting her ability to form healthy relationships.
*Healing Process: Lindsey explains how she sought various forms of therapy and self-help without success until she found healing through a relationship with Jesus. Her faith journey involved overcoming misconceptions about God and slowly understanding His true nature.
*Forgiveness and Generational Curses: Lindsey discusses the importance of forgiveness in her healing process, including forgiving her father and ex-husband. She also highlights the role of breaking generational curses and soul ties as part of her spiritual and emotional recovery.
*God's Redemption: Lindsey emphasizes the transformative power of God's love and redemption, stating that God can heal any trauma and restore what has been lost. She encourages others to trust in God's plan and His ability to bring good out of even the most painful experiences.

Podcast Intro:
Lindsey Smith is my guest today and I admire her courage to talk about the darkest experiences of trauma in her life; some of which include sexual abuse, marital abuse and the various ways it impacted her mental health and self-worth.

Side Note: I want to pause for just a moment before I jump back into this intro because I want to point out how important it is that once we have healed we share our story of God turning our pain into purpose….right before Lindsey and I get together for this recording for her to share her testimony of healing and restoration despite the evil of this life, she gets a call that gives her some very disturbing news. This happens …I’d say with 1 out of every 15 of my guests; something unforeseen and certainly the timing is unexpected that an obstacle to our recording or a type of derailment presents itself and we have the decision to make, do we stop, do we delay or cancel our conversation. To me, it was obvious that the enemy wanted to break Lindsey’s focus, silence her voice, cause her to cancel our conversation. But the enemy did not win. We prayed and asked Holy Spirit to intervene and bring peace to her heart and mind so that the goodness of God could be proclaimed. We went from the prayer right into the recording and maybe it was just me but I could hear it in her voice as Holy Spirit began to bring her into a place of calm.

Lindsey’s courage to share her story reveals her passion to let people know the importance of God’s role in her healing process, saying that it was through a gradual and gentle reintroduction to faith that she began to understand and accept God’s love and salvation.

Every single one of us are created in God’s image, but we’re born into a sinful world. Lindsey, born in God’s perfect image entered into a generational curse that plagued her family which included sexual abuse and a lack of respect for the women in the family. Since no one before had stood in authority to break the curse Lindsey bore the effects that resulted in a very unstable and fearful mental state of mind. Fear crippled her ability to live her life, cultivate healthy relationships and make confident decisions. The expected result of these influences resulted in an abusive marriage for 18 years.

We talk about the significance of breaking generational curses and soul ties as part of her spiritual healing and how God's guidance was crucial in orchestrating her recovery. Lindsey also discusses her journey through various forms of therapy, and her eventual realization that only through Jesus could she find true healing and freedom from shame.

Lindsey's message is clear: despite the severity of her traumas, God's grace can transform and redeem, turning even the darkest experiences into sources of strength and hope.

Listen in and be encouraged today! God’s heart for healing and restoration breaks the grip of the enemy’s plans over your life.

Lived Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Connect with Lindsey:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lindseymary_smith/

Bio:
Lindsey Smith is Spiritual Coach for women specializing in anxiety and trauma.  In her decades long pursuit of relief from the effects of childhood trauma she trained in many modalities to facilitate her own healing while also developing a deep desire to help other women. Her path ultimately brought her back to the Heavenly Father and Jesus where she experienced deep healing of long-time wounds and restoration of her wholeness as a Holy Daughter. It is her greatest desire to help free women from the bondage and suffering that results from trauma and abuse so they can reclaim their birthright of peace, love, joy and abundance.  As a coach she helps women find a place of safety within themselves by building a relationship with God.  Guided by God and the Holy Spirit, she assists them in finding healing and liberation from anxiety and the consequences of complex trauma such as shame, depression, hopelessness, toxic relationships and chronic pain.

Related Podcast Topics:
Kimberly Bell - Taking Responsibility for Your Healing: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/12/07/taking-responsibility-for-your-healing-with-kimberly-bell/
Amy Nordhues - Sexual Abuse at the Hands of a Mental Health Professional: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/03/16/amy-nordhues-sexual-abuse-by-a-mental-health-professional/
Tina Ivey - From Survive to Thrive, Overcoming Sexual Abuse: https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/01/03/from-survive-to-thrive-overcoming-sexual-abuse-with-tina-ivey/
Dr. Kelli Palfy - Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/03/30/male-sexual-abuse/

No Longer in Bondage to Sexual Addiction, with Logan Hufford

Bullet Points:
*Spiritual and Psychological Struggles: Logan experienced deep shame, self-hatred, and hopelessness, feeling disconnected from God despite frequent prayers. He struggled with both sexual addiction and anger, which he describes as major hurdles in his journey.
*Role of Support and Community: Key to Logan's recovery was joining a Christ-centered 12-step program called Prodigals, where he found intense accountability and support. This community played a crucial role in his healing, providing practical tools and spiritual guidance.
*Importance of the Amends Process: A significant part of Logan's recovery involved making amends to those he hurt, which helped him take ownership of his actions and heal from his past.
*Message of Hope and Encouragement: Logan emphasizes that no one is beyond hope or redemption. He encourages others struggling with addiction to seek help and trust in the transformative power of God and supportive communities.

PODCAST INTRO:

The topics of sexual addiction, being a sex addict and really any addiction is a prison that I know God not only desires to set people free from but absolutely can break the chains and offer people truth, freedom, and forgiveness. Which in turn allows them to live a life that many do not image is possible.

My guest, Logan Hufford has a candid conversation about his struggle with sexual addictions. While this is a man’s perspective I do believe that my primarily female audience can benefit from what Logan shares. Logan says that 60-80% of men struggle with a sexual addiction of some degree so there is the possibility that someone you love is silently struggling and I’d like to think that this conversation will give you courage to bring up this topic, or give you hope in knowing that healing and recovery is possible and may the resources Logan shares encourage your loved one to take step toward recovery.

Logan is brutally honest about the way he operated in his addiction and the dual life he was living. After bargaining with God to change him, and not receiving a response, the simple realization that there were other men who had found freedom from this dark cave of existence gave Logan a glimmer of hope that started him on the road to recovery. He also sheds some light on the fact that it’s a spiritual battle, and that Satan’s goal is to pervert anything good that God has established, with the family being the number one target.

He shares the resources that he has participated in to overcome the demonic grip of addiction and in this specific conversation, (sexual addiction as it pertains to men), he spoke about these resources:
The Conquer Series - Ted Roberts (Pure Desire Ministries) Logan said this is the best resource for someone who wants to understand sexual addiction & sexual addiction recovery. It goes in to great depth about what is happening to the body and the mind (spiritually, physically, emotionally). Because it is more than making a choice. You’ll hear Logan talk about how the brain and body are changed by the very things that God created and meant for our good but as Logan shares, we can pervert the good things God has for us.

Prodigals - This is a men’s group that offers accountability - Logan himself leads a Prodigals group.
The Amends Process - Elective Mentorship program
He briefly mentioned Celebrate Recovery - I know of the Celebrate Recovery programs here in my area because a previous church that I attended hosts them. It’s a 12 step, faith based program that offers hope, and help to anyone who struggles with things such as addiction, co-dependency, compulsive behaviors.

Side Note: At one point Logan uses a term FOMO and just in case you wonder what that means, it’s Fear Of Missing Out.

Let’s dive into this conversation to discover Logan’s journey through addiction and into his willingness to be proactive, engage recovery, and submit himself to God’s transforming, sustaining power and in exchange he receives freedom, wholeness and living the life he had only dreamed was possible.

Live Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com 

 

More Episodes Similar to this Topic:
Rosie MaKinney, A Porn Free Marriage is Possible: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/05/11/porn-free/
Rose Anne Forte, Consider The Possibility of a Transformed Life Without Alcohol:https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/01/17/consider-the-possibility-of-a-transformed-life-without-alcohol/

 

Connect with Logan:
IG: @no.longer.in.bondage (direct link: https://www.instagram.com/no.longer.in.bondage?igsh=MWl6d3B0NzE0Y2ltdQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr)
Prodigals (in Alaska, where Logan lives) - Www.prodigalsofalaska.com

Resources:
The Conquer Series: https://conquerseries.com/whats-the-conquer-series
Celebrate Recovery: https://celebraterecovery.com/

BIO:
Logan is a born & raised Alaskan, married to his gorgeous bride Carrie, who herself is a 4th-generation Alaskan; and together they are raising 4 amazing but crazy little monkeys. 

Their life is a simple one - they love their family time, their dogs, and exploring the beautiful Alaskan wilderness. 

And yet, absolutely none of this should be possible today. For years, Logan did just about everything in his power to destroy his marriage and his life. Logan was a raging sex addict. Porn, affairs, hiring prostitutes, and more had simply become a way of life for Logan. He thought he had no hope. 

In 2016, God began to change all that. Through Recovery, God transformed Logan’s life and his marriage.

Logan and his wife Carrie each now lead Recovery groups, doing what they can to give back by sharing the gifts that God has given them.

Since January of 2021, Logan has been blessed to be able to use many of the tools he’s learned in Addiction Recovery, as a Dave Ramsey-endorsed personal finance coach. He’s honored to help folks find freedom & healthy living, in a different venue than just specifically recovery.

A Deep Dive of the Soul After Child Loss, with Bridgett Dunbar

My guest Bridgett Dunbar, holds a Master’s Degree in marriage and family therapy, and is a Grief Counselor. She’s served in the pastoral ministry, healing ministry and several other positions, all with the focus on helping people find healing and wholeness in Jesus.

But when her personal life was flipped upside down by the loss of her precious son (at birth) would it be her professional training that helped her or her personal relationship with Christ? After having the chance to talk with her I see where both were very beneficial.

To me, what I came away with (and granted this is just a small portion of her story), in and around the initial impact of such devastating pain it was her faith, her intimate relationship with Christ that enabled her to struggle well with the good God she professed in the context of suffering. And now, after having walked through that very personal valley of death Bridgett uses the revelations/the healing she experienced coupled with her professional skills.

True to God’s nature He wastes nothing and you’ll hear that in this conversation and you’ll see the fruit on her website bridgettdunbar.com. She offers various resources and services that give focus in helping others find their way through confusion, uncertainty, grief and loss.

Along with those resources on her website you’ll also see that one of the ways that she extends her hand and heart to others is through the book she authored, Grief, Loss and the Goodness of God - A Path to Healing After the Death of a Child. You can learn more about this book on her website. At the time of this episode going live in July of 2024, she’s offering the download for free.

There are many layers to Bridgett’s personal story and you know me, I ask some bold questions of my guests, only because I truly desire to know how did the God of the Holy Bible meet them in their pain.  I genuinely want to know, does knowing, following, and serving God make a difference?

I asked Bridgett, questions like, “What did you need to surrender to God in order to heal?” I asked, “After such a deep dive with God what is your personal discovery about the meaning of life?” And, “What did it do to you, what did it mean to come face-to-face with the fact that the good God you professed did not show up when you needed him?”

Bridgett did not shy away from these tough questions and as I listened, there was a strong theme that kept coming up. It was the way she reminded me that grief makes us very vulnerable and in that vulnerability we are at war with the enemy. She lays out clear strategies in order to overcome each wave of grief and spiritual attack. You’ll hear her say she’s not denying reality but rather she’s engaging it with truth.

She shares that when we’re pressed in on all sides, what we’ve been cultivating on the inside of us, in our heart, our mind, our emotions will come to the surface.

Pain causes us to clash with our belief system. In that clash, that struggle to make sense of what we thought life was supposed to be and where we find ourself, which is faced with uncertainty about everything we thought, then we’re challenged with what comes to the surface. Will it be fear, lack of faith, lie based thinking? It all comes to the surface.

Our emotions that were grounded in experiences rather than truth are at question. Bridgett shares that when she engaged worship she experienced one of the most effective strategies in a spiritual battle. It’s when we take the battle stance of worship that we engage the power of the Kingdom of God.

It’s such a simple engagement when you turn worship music on, begin to listen, begin to sing. No matter where we are in our grief/healing journey, it’s immediately effective. It grounds us, invites the very presence of God, the joy (that is beyond our ability to comprehend/or create on our own) shows up. It gives us hope in a better tomorrow and lifts our gaze to God’s promises for us.

Let’s listen in and hear all the beautiful ways that Bridgett points us to the heart of God and equips us to fight well in the midst of grief, pain, and suffering.

Live Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Connect with Bridgett:
Website: BridgettDunbar.com
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bridgettrdunbar/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/brdunbar
Free (at time of original release 07.2024) Download of her book titled, Grief, Loss and the Goodness of God - A Path to Healing after the death of a Child: https://bridgettdunbar.com/grief
Resources (both free and very affordable!) - https://bridgettdunbar.com/resources444

BIO:
BRIDGETT DUNBAR is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, public speaker, co-host of the HE/She Podcast, and co-founder of the Outlier’s Way. She has personally experienced the loss of two children through stillbirth and miscarriage. Since then, Bridgett has dedicated herself to helping individuals dealing with grief and loss find their way back to joy and peace.

With a diverse background that includes positions as a spiritual leader, pastor, inner healing trainer, facilitator, and prophetic teacher, Bridgett is deeply passionate about guiding both men and women toward a life of freedom, wholeness, and an authentic connection with God.

More podcasts on this topic:
Erin Honeycutt on Infertility and Miscarriage: https://alifeofthrive.com/2020/12/16/bonus-podcast-episode-erin-honeycutt-infertility-and-miscarriage/
Alicia Hodges - Finding Peace and Comfort After the Death of Her Son: https://alifeofthrive.com/2023/08/30/finding-peace-and-comfort-after-the-death-of-her-son-alicia-hodges/
Serena Dyksen - After Abortion Care and Healing: https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/06/05/after-abortion-care-and-healing-with-serena-dyksen/

Hope Reager - The Death of Her Adult Son: https://alifeofthrive.com/2021/12/22/hope/

Spiritual Disciplines Can Heal and Transform, with Healey Ikerd

Lately I’ve taken a keen interest in finding ways, methods, tools for my listeners to not only pursue peace in their life but I also want to connect them with actual people who can make a difference in their pursuit for freedom in the mind/mental health, heart/emotional health and body/physical health. With that in mind, my guest today is Psychotherapist Healey Ikerd. As you listen in you’ll hear that she can definitely make a difference in those areas of your life. 

Together she and I want you to know, to have, to experience freedom in all the ways God meant for you to be free so that you can walk in your true identity in Christ and know the fullness of His plans for your life.

God is the only deity that I’m aware of who never asks you to act like something didn’t happen or to accept what happened or to distance yourself from your traumas. The God of the Holy Bible says give me your hand, I’m going to guide you through this valley and into healing. So God boldly walks us right through the middle of our personal valley of death. He takes pain and gives it purpose, redeems what we’ve lost and replaces it with better and He restores us to our right mind where fear does not reign. 

The more I talk about the transforming power of God’s word the more I realize that change starts with a simple decision that we want peace more than we want to live with what fear cultivates in our life. That decision is not enough though because we must take action with some discipline and intention. Among many things that Healey talked about she gave us a super simple way to start the process of changing the way we think and therefore changing the way we live.

Healey suggests that we take a situation or a lie based thought, such as I don’t like my smile, no one loves me, I can never do anything right,(fill in the blank with your personal fear or negative self-talk). Then find a scripture to replace the destructive nature of the words and beliefs you are currently using/thinking. Using scripture to replace destructive self-talk will begin to feed the creation of new neuropathways in the brain and starve the life based neuropathways that you previously created and used.  lie.  By not focusing on our lack but by speaking God’s truth into life starves the lie we believed. 

Scriptures such as Psalm 139:14, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Or if fear is overwhelming, then turn to a full scripture such as Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 

In short, every time your negative thought comes into your head, interrupt it with your phrase or wash your thoughts with scripture and rewrite the lies with God’s truth. I’d suggests you practice this discipline with intention for a minimum of 21 days because that’s the time it takes to rewrite a neuro pathway in your brain. Thirty days is even better!

Something else that Healey shared that was super simple and yet oh so powerful with regard to changing our language is to rephrase your I am statements and to I feel. 

She made the distinction that speaking I am statements over ourselves such as I am scared, I am lonely, I am weary, are statements of identity and yet we are not our emotions or our fears. So when we’re talking about emotions use the phase I feel scared, I feel lonely, I feel weary. 

I’d even suggest you include self defeating statements such as I am ugly, I am fat because there is an emotion/a fear behind these words and change them to I feel ugly, I feel fat. 

When we intentionally change the wording to I feel, this gives us control over our emotions and we move from labeling ourself as less than, to healing; in other words, restored to who God says we are. We’re no longer a victim of an emotion. We have emotions but it’s not who we are. 

That is just a few of the simple actions that we can take that will change the direction of our life!

Alright, let’s get into this informative and potentially life changing conversation with Healey Ikerd.

Live Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Connect with Healey:
Website:  https://writtenbyhealey.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/writtenbyhealey/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/WrittenbyHealey
Face your Fears Freebie - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fu_CGjKaGWXO3QapzQtyxV62EuTwIrfe2b2Br3Ii2zk/edit?usp=sharing

Bio:
Healey Ikerd is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of Arkansas and a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor. 

She has also earned a Certificate in Ministry from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  She is a U.S. Army Veteran and has worked in the mental health field for over 17 years. 

She owns her own private practice in Fayetteville, Arkansas called HopeLife Counseling and is the author of Changing Your Feeling – A Workbook for Anxiety and Worry From a Christian Perspective and a newly released children’s book called The Red Ball – A Story of Friendship and Forgiveness. 

Her passion is to help others excel in life and relationships through biblical principles. Healey is a mom and a new “Grammie”.  She and her husband live on a small farm in Northwest Arkansas. 

Additional Podcasts on Various Other Healing Ministries:
Theophostic Healing w/Frank Meadows: https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/04/10/theophostic-healing-prayer-with-frank-meadows/
Deliverance Ministry w/Karen King: https://alifeofthrive.com/2023/09/13/finding-freedom-through-the-deliverance-ministry/
Emotion Code w/Eileen Love: Part 1 - https://alifeofthrive.com/2023/06/07/emotion-code-therapy-part-1-with-eileen-love/ & Part 2 - https://alifeofthrive.com/2023/06/22/emotion-code-therapy-with-eileen-love-part-2/

After Abortion Care and Healing, with Serena Dyksen

You will be so encouraged to hear all that my guest, Serena Dyksen has to share. Serena is an author, speaker and she and her husband Bruce are the Chief Visionary Officers for the ministry, She Found His Grace. After Serena found healing for her abortion, she accepted God’s invitation to spearhead His plan to bring healing and restoration to others just like her.

Per their website SheFoundHisGrace.org, their mission is “For men and women to find forgiveness after abortion and be set free from shame, guilt and regret. Turning our pain into purpose.”                 

I’ll start with this statistic that Serena shared however, this episode does not shame or guilt anyone. You’ll hear Serena share her abortion experience at the age of 13 and how it impacted her life for many years, even in ways she didn’t connect with the abortion. We are discussing truths, facts, personal stories and examples but only encouragement for those who are hurting is what you’ll hear.

Serena shared that 63 million babies have been lost to abortion so that made me think about the ripple effect. If we want to look at, say a ballpark figur with regard to the level of pain that is present in our communities, our families, our churches we can’t forget that there is a set of parents. We need to remember that the abortion has affected 2 additional people (per baby) who will potentially live with guilt and shame.

She Found His Grace Ministry has a mission to provide post abortion healing so mothers and fathers can find forgiveness, purpose and redemption. Every hurting heart that connects with She Found His Grace is pointed to the only One who can do such a transformational work of the heart. Only God is the superior opponent for satan. God is the only reason we can know anything good in the reality of a broken world and an enemy who hates us.

God has the power and the authority to use the very thing that satan meant to destroy you with and give it purpose in your life. Victory over sin and shame is God’s expertise. How can we experience a come back from one of life’s most devastating choices? Jesus’ example on the cross and his resurrection is for us today and He offers us that same ability to rise again to new life in Him. Yes, we’ll know new life in eternity with Him but the God of the Holy Bible is alive and active in our life today and he offers us new life. New life to experience and to know it in the here and now.

I stress this because I want you to know that you can never go too far and that you are not alone in your pain and confusion. Throughout this podcast episode you’ll hear reason after reason to reinforce this truth.

Serena and I talked about so many things one of which was how the abortion pill has shifted the abortion clinic from an office environment into the personal home. This move shifts the responsibility and magnifies how the mom is even more isolated in her abortion experience. Something that Serena is hearing more and more is that when the so called “clump of cells” passes from the body looks more like a baby than the women were prepared for. The level of trauma is layers deep. What are they supposed to do under those circumstances because abortion clinics do not offer any after care even though they know how traumatizing it is for their customers.

Something that I wasn’t aware of and I don’t hear it being talked about AT ALL is the abortion pill reversal option. Serena shares some helpful and encouraging information and a beautiful testimony of a woman who regretted taking the abortion pill, took action within the required timeframe, received and took the reversal antidote pill and was able to deliver a healthy baby.

Here’s a perspective I never considered, on the She Found His Grace website there are personal stories from siblings who grieve the loss of the aborted baby and Serena shares that these are some of the most passionate supporters because they see the healing transformation their family experiences and they want that for other families too.

There is a lot of heartbreaking aspects about abortion but something Serena talked about was the various types of abuse experienced in abortion clinics. This caused me to wondered out loud how much worse it could get especially if the woman shows any indication that she may not get the abortion.

Something precious we talked about was the event Serena hosts and it’s when mothers and fathers give dignity to their children and part of that experience is to name their child. Serena almost had me in tears hearing how beautiful God is to not only make it okay to acknowledge the life of the child, but to give him/her an identity with a name and to create a family bond. That’s so God’s heart; family, relationship. Yet another reason why He wants more than anything for you to bring Him your pain. You’re His son or daughter and He wants to heal you.

After this conversation and getting a glimpse into Serena’s passion to facilitate healing for the men and women who have experienced abortion I was left with the lingering impression on my heart of the powerful impact that a once broken heart made whole in Jesus can realistically have on those around them.

Every healed heart becomes a voice and gives courage for other broken hearts to find healing as well…Think about how Serena herself found healing and gave God her yes in obedience and look at what He’s done with her transformed heart. If the gospel started with 12 transformed lives and has reached around the globe, I’m in awe to think what’s possible with each ripple affect that individual people will start and the contribution they’ll make for post abortion healing throughout the continents.

All the more reason to find healing for guilt, shame, condemnation because when you do, it flips the table on satan’s plans to destroy your life. Letting God rewrite the painful places with His extravagant love, forgiveness, restoration, grace, mercy and all the beautiful ways that He cares for us and heals us, that’s true victory.

Let’s listen in to hear all that Serena has to share. Not only is it very interesting and life changing but I love to hear the joy in her voice. God has done a good work because even her laughter is a testimony that with God it’ll all work out for our good and His glory.

Lived Loved and Thrive!

Connect with Serena:
serenadyksen.com
SheFoundHisGrace.org
Hotline: 574-400-5272
abortionpillreversal.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shefoundhisgrace
Instagram: Instagram.com/she_found_his_grace
Pinterest: Pinterest.com/sdyksen

Bio:
Serena Dyksen is a wife, mother, speaker, post-abortive, author and founder of the She Found His Grace Ministry. She is also a sidewalk counselor where she ministers to abortion-minded mothers and fathers. Serena shares her story to empower men and women to know their worth through the saving power of Jesus Christ. She currently serves on the board of Northern Indiana Adult and Teen Challenge along with her husband Bruce. When she’s not in the trenches of ministry, she enjoys spending time with her family, drinking coffee, traveling and enjoying the beach.