Christian Women’s Retreat: Healing in Community
Do you long to feel seen, heard, or understood? Does your soul feel lonely and you desire to be with others who truly understand what you are experiencing? Many times, as we seek to heal from life’s painful events, we tend to do it alone. However, healing happens in safe community! Hope Restored, the Christian Women’s Retreat in Florida is a powerful option. It is an incredible weekend filled with counseling for trauma, EMDR therapy, creative arts therapies, and so much more. Teresa Whiting has written about her experience at the women’s retreat last year in Orlando, Florida. Teresa is a pastor’s wife, ministry leader, and is passionate about inviting women to discover the beautiful, redemptive work of Jesus during painful and broken life experiences. She is also an overcomer of childhood sexual abuse and is one of the leaders at the Hope Restored Women’s Retreat. Here is what she says:
Women’s Retreat Experience
“Shame hung thick like a blanket, wanting to smother us. We sat in a circle, our feet scraping the dirt of the barn floor, and shared our stories one by one. Rape. Sexual abuse at the hands of a brother. A father. An uncle. A church member. As pain and grief poured out, we tenderly held one another's sacred stories.
We were seen and heard, not shamed or silenced. Our pain was validated. Wounds, now reopened, were finding healing as things long hidden in the dark were brought into the light. Tears were shed. Compassion was imparted. "I see you. I believe you. I'm so sorry. That betrayal must have been so painful." In the baring of our burdens, the smog of shame dissipated.
This was my first experience at a trauma intensive. I sat in awe of these courageous women who came ready to enter the hard work of healing. Sharing our stories with a group of strangers can be frightening. But healing takes place in a safe community—a healing that goes beyond posting #metoo. There is a sisterhood that forms as women open their hearts and expose their wounds.
In order for wounds to heal, we must expose them to the light. But shame will do everything to keep us hiding in the dark, where it can fester and grow. Why do we resist the light so violently? It's simple, really. Hiding is our M.O. It's been that way since the dawn of creation.
All of our stories originate in Genesis. In chapter one, we read the stunning account of God speaking the world into existence. Chapter two zooms in on His most prized and beloved creation—man and woman. The chapter ends with these words: "The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame." Genesis 2:25 (NIV) The last words before sin entered the world were, "No shame." Our first parents lived in a perfect world where they were fully seen, fully known, and fully loved.
But into that paradise slithered a diabolical enemy, a cunning serpent with an evil scheme. He began a discourse with the woman with one intention: death. The serpent took nuggets of truth, distorted them, and quickly digressed to outright lies.
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom... she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
Genesis 3:6-10 (NIV emphasis added)
The immediate result of the fall was a progression from guilt to shame to fear to hiding. The latter part of verse eight is the most tragic part. The literal translation is this: "They hid themselves from the face of the LORD God among the trees of the garden." Genesis 3:8b
Isn't that what their enemy wanted? How better to hurt God than to sever His relationship with His kids? And we've been hiding ever since.
As we think about the sexual brokenness in our lives, we go to great lengths to hide it. Yet, Scripture is full of evidence that God's heart is drawn to the sexually broken. You and I stand among a vast lineage of brave and broken women—women who have endured unspeakable grievances yet have been healed and made whole through God's love and the restoration of Jesus. His tender heart for the marginalized and abused spills all over the pages of Scripture in the stories of women like Tamar, Rahab, and Bathsheba. He is not ashamed of our stories. Instead, He highlights them, shining a spotlight on His grace.
Yet even we who know Christ are often burdened under the heavy weight of shame. Satan's tactics haven't changed in thousands of years. He whispers accusations in our ears, "If only they knew... You don't belong...Surely, that can't be forgiven." His lies tempt us to hide from one another, and especially from the presence of the one who heals and makes us whole. But we have a choice.
Those who look to Him are radiant. Their faces are never covered with shame Psalm 34:5 (NIV)
Instead of covering our faces in shame or hiding from our Maker, we can look to Him. When we do, He shines the light of His glory on us, and we become radiant.
I witnessed this transformation in the sacred space of our trauma intensive. Secrets were brought into the light, and those who began the weekend heavy with shame found grace, hope, and healing. As women turned their faces to the LORD, I watched their countenances change from shame to shining. “
Are you Ready?
This can be your experience too. You can heal! You can take off the heavy coat of shame and walk in freedom, immersed in the light. You may be saying “oh, I couldn’t do that, it sounds scary” or “that may work for someone else, but not for me.” Don’t let fear or the beliefs that stem from trauma serve as an obstacle to your healing. Healing and growth take courage. The Hope Restored Christian Women’s Retreat is a great opportunity! Friend, you can live freely according to who God designed you to be! I long for you to experience that. We hope to see you at Hope Restored 2024, a Christian women’s trauma healing retreat in Florida.
Teresa is an author, national speaker, and host of the Find Hope Here podcast. She holds a degree in Bible and counseling. Her recently published Bible study, DisGraced: How God Redeems and Restores the Broken, is an outworking of her own story. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Teresa has taken steps toward healing and freedom from shame through friendships with women like Tamar, Rahab, and the Samaritan woman. She and her husband, Greg, have five adult children and two grandsons. They are recent empty nesters living in sunny Florida. In her happy place, you'll find her walking the beach, hanging out with her family, or exploring God's creation, untethered from technology.
