So Glad You’re Here

Life has been hard for you, hasn’t it? You want to live a meaningful, wholehearted life, but you spend your days shadowed by unsettling thoughts that you just can’t shake.

Everyday circumstances brush up against memories from an old script that continues to play out in your life. Some of these memories are so intense you almost feel like you are reliving them. Or maybe ordinary situations trigger deep emotions like fear, shame or sadness that you cannot explain.

You are haunted by a vague sense that you are reliving a scene from your past, but you can’t recall any details.

People with untended childhood wounds navigate the world with whatever is within their grasp and seek life as best they can. But even their most earnest efforts often lead to an inevitable loss of hope, not only in God but also in themselves and the world around them since their stories rarely lead them to a desired happy ending.

I have some good news for you.

Hope and healing for the wounded young child who lives within your soul is possible.

Even if previous attempts to resolve your past hurts have failed. Even if your understanding of God’s love for you has been deeply damaged by all that has happened to you.

I was raised by a loving mom who suffered from lifelong mental illness. I survived a deeply troubled childhood that placed responsibility for my mother’s depression, anxiety and suicidal behavior squarely on my shoulders. The little girl in me believed that I was responsible for her well-being. This belief traveled with me long into my adulthood.

Many of you have endured much more destructive childhood experiences than mine.

The people who were placed on this earth to love and nurture you harmed, betrayed or discarded you.

You want to believe in a caring, protective God but the universe seems to be constructed in patterns designed to intentionally prevent you from understanding this basic truth.

The Christian church, which was established to dispense authentic love and mercy, is often an impenetrable fortress of unattainable religious standards that keep people out rather than invite them in.

George Macdonald, the Scottish author, poet and pastor, describes this dilemma in his book The Truth in Jesus:

How have we learned Christ? It ought to be a startling thought, that we may have learned him wrong. That must be far worse than not to have learned him at all…Have we learned Christ in false statements and corrupted lessons about him, or have we learned himself?

Like many people, my history is one of learning Jesus wrong.

I learned about him from people and institutions who reduced him to a set of religious standards or attempted to recreate him in their own image. I also learned him wrong from the trauma I experienced during the tender years of my childhood.

Given my family history, it seems unlikely that I could ever put my faith in a loving, merciful God— which is why I believe in miracles. Over a long and rocky journey I came to a deep and powerful understanding that I am a unique and beautiful creation formed by a magnificent God who eternally loves me.

It wasn’t until I learned of God by directly encountering him in the midst of my deepest suffering that the veil was torn in two and I could see with greater vision the God-Man who imagined me before time began and has been pursuing my heart with a limitless love from the moment I drew my first breath.

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come.”
-Isaiah 61:1-2, The Living Bible (TLB)

This is the mission that Jesus proclaims to us. This offer is open to every person who puts their faith and hope in him. That means YOU dear one.

I’m delighted that you’ve stopped by to read.

There is much that we will discover here as I share my own stories and true accounts of others who are discovering God’s hope and healing. My goal is to encourage and inspire you to pursue healing and a deeper relationship with our loving God.

It may be that your life contains an extraordinary story of God’s grace and healing. Maybe you have wanted to share that story with others but weren’t sure how to put it in words. If so, please fill out the form below or email me at lisabaldwinwriter@gmail.com and I will be in touch.