What Healing Might Look Like
When I arrived at Naomi’s House to lead the women through our weekly devotions, I walked in to the living room to find a woman who has been in the program for several months was balled up on the couch. She’s just the sweetest, tender young woman. She’s unique in how she holds herself, demonstrating from her first impression that she is kind and gentle. Gina* was at a point in our program where she had reached a place where she was fully engaged in her journey to heal. So to find her on the couch balled up one morning was out of character for her. I thought maybe she was sick or fighting of a cold. But that wasn’t it. Her trauma and memories of her past were beginning to heal, and that healing process was taking over her entire body. Her joints, her muscles, her GI system… her skin and hair, her sleeping patterns… all systems were being impacted by the memories of what she had experienced and the violence she endured, and trauma impacts every part of the body.
Gina suffers from complex trauma, as in the case of most survivors of sexual exploitation, and was having a difficult time believing that she could ever live safely in the present again. Regular, everyday moments trigger a memory of danger. Her brain was telling her that some traumatic experiences were happening all over again, in real time. The emotions and physical sensations that were imprinted on her during her traumatic experiences are not just memories to her, but disruptive physical reactions in the present. What we tell survivors is that trauma is not what happened to them, but how their brain is responding to the experience. And that response can be changed.
Many survivors express that healing from trauma can be harder than the actual traumatic experience. Essential pieces to healing include forming meaningful community, trauma-informed therapy, and a spiritual connection to God. You can’t change the event, but you can change the response.
The devotion I led that morning was from Luke 4:15–21 and worked through a visual of what this could have looked like. This is immediately following the 40 days Jesus had spent in the desert…He goes to him hometown and gives His inaugural speech. The first words Jesus chooses to share with his listening audience is that He has fulfilled the long-awaited prophesy set out in Isaiah. How profound! The very first message Jesus shared with His listeners is that He came to proclaim good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for prisoners and sight for the blind and set the oppressed free. What a distinct and intentional group of people Jesus singles out in His first ever message. Gina heard the gospel in a very personal way that morning. Her body didn’t immediately heal and her recovery journey is still very much in progress. But she did straighten up a bit, take a deep breath of relief as to say “I’m going to get through this.”
It’s always important to me to share with you what these tiny moments of God moving in the lives of the women we serve. These special, divine moments make up a beautiful tapestry of hope and healing. Your hands and feet are very much in the fabric of these healing stories. My prayer is that you take great delight in how God is using you and His Kingdom work. Thank you.
God bless you,
Simone
Executive Director