Now What?

So, Congratulations! You've decided to surrender all of your pain to God.....but, you may be wondering, now what? There are a few key steps for you to take in discovering and maintaining your God-given wholeness.

First, you must understand that The Bible is the basis for true healing. God can and will work with a heart that is willing to understand Him. The world is a master of offering self-help remedies, but you must conceive in your own heart that God's way, is the only true way!

Next, as I've mentioned before, I highly recommend that you contact your local pregnancy resource center. There are several ways for you to locate such a place. You may look in your local yellow pages, or, you will find a tool at the bottom of this blog that will help you to find a center in your area. Most of these centers offer post abortive counseling. The first phone call may be the hardest step, but you can do it! Once you speak to someone, you will quickly find that there is not condemnation or judgement on the other end of the phone, but instead, someone who has likely been there also and wants to help you. Most times, a pregnancy center will walk you through a healing process by spending time talking with you, praying with you, and will also often use a bible study as a tool to help you. Different centers use different bible studies, but, the core of content that is contained within the different studies will basically always cover the same principles. The principles that are covered are crucial for your healing. Here's an example of things you will cover, based on the book that I always used with my clients, Forgiven and Set Free, by Linda Cochrane:


Identifying & Understanding Where You Need the Healing

Understanding the Character of God

Your Relief and Denial

Anger

The Need to Forgive

Depression

Walking in Your Forgiveness & Freedom

Acceptance


I found the above referenced book to be laid out perfectly.

There are other locations that do sometimes offer this type of bible study such as churches, but unless you've seen a flier for such a study or you are aware of what different churches are offering, it probably would be best to start at a pregnancy resource center.

Generally the process of such healing will consist of approximately 10 weeks, with your meetings being once a week. This can obviously vary depending on your needs. Most centers offer this type of counseling in either a group environment (with other post-abortive women) or on a one-on-one basis (with just one leader meeting with you). This can be determined upon your preference or on what is available.

Preparing for this process is a very exciting time! This is due largely to the fact that you will finally be given the chance to really share your heart about your abortion experience. Be assured that these centers will do everything they can to ensure your privacy and confidentiality in the process. I always told the women that I worked with that they should be forewarned about the weeks to come. There will be great anticipation for your meeting some weeks, and other weeks may be somewhat dreadful as you begin to dig deeply into the things that aren't easy or fun to recall.

I can remember being mind boggled in my own healing process, as I discovered how many painful details that I had suppressed and no longer remembered, until that is, that God lovingly helped me to remember. This is what I've described in some of my previous posts as "God lovingly walking us through a process of healing". He takes us to a place of remembering those painful details so that He can touch and heal every hurt of our heart. He loves you that much! This is the process of becoming whole. You can't be whole if you keep missing some of the cracks. I'll be honest, it's not always easy, but remember, He's not going to abandon you. You'll be right where He's wanted you to be for so long, and you better believe that He will comfort you, encourage you, strengthen you, and love you through the process.

The conclusion of your healing process will likely include a special memorial for your unborn child(ren). I can't begin to explain to you the significance of importance in this one step alone. I will speak more about this on my next post.

Finally, If you do not yet regularly attend a church, I recommend that you begin to, either during or after your healing process. Prayerfully seek the Lord for a church that will help you to grow. He's faithful to lead! This is of utmost importance as you're learning the new things of God. Your consistency with God will help you to contain what you've learned and experienced, and help you to grow in every area of your life. The fellowship of other like minded believers is also important. You must stay connected with others who can understand you and pray for you!

Conclusion: Seeking complete wholeness should be viewed as an investment. You must enter into the process with an "all or nothing" attitude to completely benefit. While you could do the bible study on your own, I don't recommend it. You should work with someone who is knowledgeable and can help lead you in the process. One of the most troubling things that I have found in my experience with women, is, when they have found temporary comfort by some form of healing on their own terms, but then later realize that they're still hurting. This can be harmful because not only is she still broken, but now she also questions her ability to get any better because she short changed herself. Healing from abortion has to be taken seriously and must include commitment to the process.


Please, do not hesitate to let me know if you have any additional questions, or if I can personally help you in any way at all! You may privately reach me at: extendedhope@aol.com

As Always, I Am Praying For You!