Love's Response
Reconnecting to God through Healing of Emotional Wounds
by
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A Testimony of Love’s Response – 2008 Class Participant
By Kristie
On Tuesday Night after class I went home and did the usual thing - I took my sleeping pills and lay down and waited for the nightmares to begin. But to my surprise I was instantly taken back to when I was five years old. In front of me stood a little girl with long brown hair in pigtails and a pretty blue dress. We were standing on our porch in
I turned and looked at the little girl (me) and realized I have been carrying the guilt of this day with me. I kept telling myself if I hadn’t waved to him he would still be alive. I wanted to comfort the little girl but she turned away from me with shame and sadness in her eyes. It was like she expected me to yell at her and tell her it was her fault. I fell to my knees and held my arms out to her and hugged her and told her it wasn’t her fault. It was never her fault and that we needed to forgive each other. We then played clapping games.
I was then taken to a garden of weeds. They were nasty looking and overgrown. I knew it was my job to take care of this garden, but I had been neglectful so I set to work on the weeds. When I pulled the first one out it took me to an instance in my life where I had been hurt deeply. I turned the weed upside down and it was a beautiful flower.
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Something truly life changing occurred in Kristie. By recognizing the painful memory (“pulling the weed”) and exposing it to the Lord (“turning it over”) it became something beautiful (”a flower"). Many times we turn away from the Lord because our grief and pain in these memories is so intense. To revisit the memory without safety and assurance is intolerable, so these memories cause us to hide from the Lord and we deny our pain. But the Lord wants us to expose them to Him so He can transform us and set us free.
In the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy Moses implored the people over and over again not to forget the Lord their God. He also reminded them not to forget they were once slaves. This was not meant to keep them in bondage, but to remind them of the Lord's great strength to rescue ("outstretched arm"), His ability to redeem ("mighty hand"), and His undying love ("faithful commitment") for them.
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About the Book
“My life looked good on the outside, yet, I was bombarded with thoughts I assumed no other Christian had. I kept thinking something must be terribly wrong with me….”
In Love’s Response, Laronda and Lisa share teachings, stories, testimonies, poems and prayers about how they and other women experienced healing from emotional wounds.
Whether you are in the depths of despair or desiring a deeper relationship with the Lord, this book is for you. It provides a step by step approach to help you connect anew with God’s welcome mercy, perfect justice, and beautiful faithfulness. Through this connection the veil over your spiritual eyes lifts and you begin to see God, yourselves, and others from a realigned perspective. Instead of reacting out of a broken, unhealed heart you respond from a heart filled with love.
Testimonies from Love’s Response participants (originally called Agape Connection):
Agape Connection helped me let go of anger and bitterness and helped me forgive. I have been delivered from the feeling of hopelessness, depression, anger and anxiety.
God healed the hole in my heart that lacked mother’s love. It is now filled with Christ’s love and I have hope for the future.
I am thankful to Agape Connection for helping me forgive my dad for the way he treated me, to forgive those who hurt me, and to forgive myself.
Agape taught me that I could go to God and really trust Him with my private feelings. He would understand without judgment, criticism, or bad words. It has taught me that I am really worth something.
My life is now filled with joy and I am able to show love to others. All walls are down and I am able to go to my father God and know His love is real.
About the Author
Laronda Alexander founded Agape Connection Ministries to minister hope and healing to women who have experienced emotional wounds. Her compassionate heart brings a safety and security to women as they deal with painful memories and trauma from their past. She is spiritually perceptive and gifted to help women respond to God’s love. She has been a registered nurse for over 35 years. In that time she has worked in Critical Care and Adult and Children's Mental Health units including Chemical Dependency Detoxification and Juvenile Sexual Offender programs. She is married to Scott and has two children and four granddaughters.
Lisa Raley attended Agape Connection classes led by Laronda in 2003. While working through the class material she journaled about her thoughts and prayers as she faced her own emotional wounds. In combining her love of journaling with stories from her life she shares glimpses of God’s fingerprints through her writing. She is married to Brad and works as a Business Analyst in Information Technology.