A friend and I recently found one another after many years and many paths that took both of us in different directions, but we both know that it was God that brought us together for a purpose.
My friend Michele is currently living in California and found me through my book Hide and Watch. She discovered my Hide and Watch page on Facebook and recognized my name, so she ordered a copy of my book from Amazon. A few days later, she contacted me to let me know how my story encouraged her to share her own story of childhood tragedy and how she has found peace through the love of Jesus Christ.
Since our first contact, we have shared several messages and texts and were eventually able to meet in person when she returned home to Kentucky to visit her family.
During our lunch, Michele shared that she had been deeply entrenched in writing, but that she was now at a place in the story where she couldn’t seem to go forward. She could see in her mind’s eye where the story picks up in the future leading to where she is now, but she had found herself at an impasse at the most difficult part of the story–the childhood tragedy that ultimately changed her life forever. She saw this place as a large dark arena that she must pass through to get to where she is now, and I sensed that she needed help in taking that first step.
As I listened to her, it suddenly occurred to me to share with her something that I do that might help her work through this.
I have developed my own form of visual imagery to help me relax and focus when I am writing. I call it a “walk through”, in which I close my eyes and imagine myself standing at the front door of my childhood home. My family moved often, but I always go back to the place I considered “home”.
In my mind, I see myself step up to the front porch, open the front door and step inside. I can remember every detail, as I gaze from room to room looking through my own eyes as I am transported back in time. If I choose to, I can step forward into the living room, or I can turn right or left to enter that room, or I can ascend up the stairs. It’s all there in my mind, every detail just as I remember from the peaceful times I experienced while my family lived there.
The point is that I feel especially safe there as I walk through every room. When I am there, nothing can harm me and I know that as I step forward from that place, I am still safe.
The place that Michele and I both have in common is our elementary school, so I shared that I sometimes I do a “walk-through” there, hoping that she would remember that as a safe place for her too.
As I recalled stepping through the front door and walking down the long hallway of our elementary school, I could name every teacher’s room on the first floor, how many steps I had to descend to reach the lower level and name every teacher’s room on that level. In my mind, I was completely there, just as I had been when I was young. It didn’t matter that it was years later—I could remember every specific detail and it gave me a sense of peace as I returned to happier times in my life.
As I shared this with Michele, I could see her start to envision that place in her past that she could go to that she considered safe before this horrible event happened in her life. I encouraged her to take small steps as she progressed forward, making especially sure that she felt safe at every stage as she begins to recall and share these emotions and courageously continue forward on this journey.
When I recall sharing my own story of pain and struggle in my book, I know from personal experience how God sustained me as I allowed deep emotional pain to flow out of me like warm blood from a fresh wound.
Yes, the pain was raw as I relieved the moments of loss and grief, but I felt Him so very close to me, loving me and caring for me in a way I had never experienced before. Every painful step I took, He was there taking that step with me and loving me through it. I was never alone as I traversed that emotional path and He remains with me to this day.
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Father God, please be with my dear friend and sister in Christ, as she continues on this journey. Please freely give her the love and courage she needs to share those words that will impact and encourage other hearts, despite the searing pain of reliving those emotional hurts buried long ago.
In Christ’s love,
Jill