Alcoholism and abuse.  And then there was love and life transformation…

Laura Padgett grew to adulthood without any idea of what love was. She didn’t know you could have relationships that didn’t involve screaming and hitting. As a child she woke up every morning wondering what would happen that day. Before day’s end, would there be police at the door?

Alcoholism and domestic violence informed her childhood, loss of her father to a brain tumor and then abandonment by her mother defined her late teens. She learned to take care of herself and her younger sister by becoming tough. Laura says she developed a blackbelt tongue.

In her mid-twenties, everything began to change for Laura when she met a woman named Dolores who gently led her to the love of Jesus. A Savior she had believed didn’t have any interest in her at all. She believed she was invisible to him, to God, because she had been excluded by some religious people as a child who told her so. (Laura explains in this podcast episode).  

No matter how broken we are, or to what degree we have been abused or addicted to alcohol or another substance, when we open our hearts to God – life transformation is possible.

Laura’s wisdom and insight provide hope and encouragement for all of us. She has a quick wit and embraces life with exuberance and a passion to teach and help others.

“I needed to stop running away from God and allow Him to run to me. I finally realized it wasn’t about my worthiness – God wanted to lift me up.”

Sarah was running from shame and guilt and the belief she was unworthy, even though she had invited the Lord into her life. As she shares her story, you will discover:

• How Sarah became able to receive unconditional love
• What happened that released her from shame and guilt
• How God slowly, tenderly, relieved her depression and feelings of hopelessness
• What Sarah learned that helped her to stop rehearsing toxic thoughts
• How forgiveness played a dual role in Sarah’s journey to freedom

For a time, Sarah didn’t want to have children. Fear that what had happened to her as a child could be repeated in a new generation was the catalyst. As her relationship with God grew deeper, she and her husband agreed they wanted to start a family.

The Lord cut the ties to the past in Sarah’s life and gave her a new heart song. She not only has a beautiful and precious little girl; she has joy in freedom and hope for the future.

Her favorite scripture, one she says knocked her over, is Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Healing, and the releasing of trauma, doesn’t ‘just happen’. Listen as Karen DeArmond Gardner shares wisdom about what it takes not only to survive, but to heal. If we leave an abuser but don’t make the commitment to understand what happened and why, we leave ourselves vulnerable to yet another abusive relationship.

• What does it mean to truly heal?

• Learn to recognize God’s relentless pursuit of your heart.

• Find out how to gain courage to release the trauma of your past.

• Regain life, hope, and wholeness in Jesus’s healing love.

Join Karen and me for our continued conversation in this second episode, hear evidence of how God pursues you, loves you, and will walk with you through the process.

by Sean Pratt, Bessel A. van der Kolk, et al. Proverbs 6: 16 -19 Galatians 5:1