Cathy Taylor, founder of the ministry, Hurting Moms, Mending Hearts, talks about the process of healing for a hurting mom. She shares about the peace she found through believing God and surrendering to His plans and purposes for her daughter.  She also speaks about the importance of being in a safe community of gracious friends who can offer support and encouragement in Christ.

Cathy Taylor, founder of the ministry, Hurting Moms, Mending Hearts, shares her story of how her daughter’s struggle with addiction and other harmful behaviors turned her world upside down and brought her to Jesus. As a hurting mom herself, she wanted to connect with other women who shared her experience. Thus, the ministry was born, and healing began.

A person who has been rejected or abandoned needs to experience relational attachment in order to heal. Healthy friends and loved ones can aid in that journey. But it is God, as the Ideal Parent, who meets the deepest needs of our hearts and can mend what sin has broken. Robin Taylor returns to share the rest of her story, and how God met her with His tender loving care.

Rejected by her father and merely tolerated by her mother, Robin Taylor, LCSW, longed for attention and love. When anyone simply paid attention to her, she had no discernment about their character, and she gave herself away. Violence, cruelty, and unkindness followed, with no healing for her soul. Only when she came to know Jesus did she begin to understand her worth.

When her happily ever after dream didn’t happen, Casandra Morgan chose dependency on Jesus as a way of life. Step by step, she matured and gained self-respect and a better life for her and her son. After feeling figuratively loved to death by the man who relationally abandoned her, God loved her back to life.

Cassandra Morgan, a self-professed military brat, found what she thought would be life-long friends in high school, including a young man who captured her heart. The military separated them when his family moved across the world. When they reconnected as young adults, she once again fell for him, becoming pregnant. Her fairy tale ended, and a dark time followed. Only God could rescue her by His grace.

God’s relational provision is a miraculous gift. Though his biological father abandoned Matthew Summit as a preschooler, God never did. He knew Matthew’s need, and brought men into his life who committed to him, demonstrating his value and worthiness. In time, Matthew became a youth pastor, committing to students in the same way men stood by him.

Matthew Summit was told he had to be the man of the house at age four, after his mother left his father because of verbal and physical abuse. This began a long journey of believing he didn’t have what it takes. That shame, along with the effects of the relational abandonment by his biological father, took root in his mind and heart. But God never left him, and it began to bring hope to his spirit.

One of our greatest fears as humans is to be abandoned and rejected.  We are designed for relationships, and when others we value discard us, the shame can be great.  The effects of it can keep us from enjoying a full and happy life.  Healing is possible, and God Himself is our great source.  In Him, we belong, and are valued and loved. 

After experiencing spiritual abuse at their first church, it happened again later in their lives for Charlaine Martin and her pastor husband. The betrayal stung just as deep. Again, the leadership in their denomination didn’t stand with them.  Even as her husband began dying of cancer, the church leaders disparaged him.  Through forgiveness, Charlaine could be free of shame. And God was faithful to His Word, vindicating them at the memorial service for her husband.

Spiritual abuse often occurs when a pastor or Christian leader oversteps the boundaries of their role. But pastors and their families can also experience spiritual abuse. When those meant to come alongside them in ministry turn against them, it can bring confusion and shame. Charlaine Martin, a seasoned pastor’s wife, recounts the tragic true story of spiritual abuse in the rural church where she and her husband served. 

Even when Tanyka Abbott resisted trusting God after the trauma of spiritual abuse, it didn’t deter Him from healing her. God heard her confusion, her fears, and her doubts, and welcomed her into His presence, offering His mercy, grace, and compassion.  In time, she could offer forgiveness and God’s hope to her abusers. Eventually, she began ministering to pastors and ministry leaders–the same kind of people who had so deeply harmed her. It is a miracle of God’s grace.

Shame can make us want to hide.  In hiding, we believe our shame will not be seen, and then we will be valued. Spiritual abuse brings shame. Those who are to be our protectors instead are our offenders. Tanyka Abbott, LCSW, shares how a date rape by a pastor followed by the leadership telling her to cover it up, brought confusion and an identity of shame instead of believing God for her worth.

The aftereffects of spiritual abuse are many. Chief among them are shame, self-doubt, and an understandable reluctance to trust God and spiritual authority. Josh Patterson felt all of those effects in his life after his experiences of spiritual abuse. He learns that Jesus identifies with us in the pain of sin. Jesus died for the sin of spiritual abuse so that we can heal and know Him as He is.

Betrayal can happen anywhere, including in the church.  Experiencing rejection and abuse by church leadership creates mistrust and can birth shame. Podcaster and former pastor, Josh Patterson, shares his heartbreaking journey of spiritual abuse, once in his teen years, and later, in the church where he served on the pastoral staff. 

Dr. Ryan Mullins, lecturer at the University of Lucerne, shares how he exposed the spiritual abuse of his doctoral supervisor and began a journey of truth, healing, and faith. Though the road to vindication continues, Ryan’s story reveals God’s unwavering faithfulness and redemptive power.

When a student attends a respected university and is assigned a supervisor for their doctoral work, the student rightfully assumes the professor’s integrity to do the job, especially when that professor claims to be a Christian. Ryan Mullins, a brilliant and talented academic, eventually discovered that his supervisor could not be trusted. He manipulated, lied, hid, and wreaked havoc on Ryan’s schooling and future career. At first, Ryan didn’t discern what was going on. In time, his eyes began to open to the enormity of the problem.

In this episode, I begin a new series on spiritual abuse, exploring God’s good design for spiritual authority and how it can be distorted by unhealthy leadership. I share how to recognize the signs of spiritual abuse and how the journey toward healing can begin. My hope is that this message brings clarity, comfort, and renewed faith in God’s goodness.

Where else do we go when the trauma of life overwhelms, but to Jesus?  He alone knows the severity of our wounds.  He alone is greater than the sin done against us. Jolie Nabigondo’s wartime horror could have left her in ruins forever. This was not her experience. She returns to share how trusting Jesus to bring healing and forgiveness resulting in a life of freedom and redemption.  

Most of us can only imagine the horrors of war,, but for many around the world, it is daily reality. Jolie Nabigondo, born and raised in Congo, has lived through what she calls not a war, but a genocide. Like the Holocaust of World War II, the ethnic cleansing in her homeland has taken countless innocent lives and left unimaginable trauma in its wake.