Years ago I was in a car accident and even though I saw it coming I could do nothing to stop it. As the cars in front of me braked hard, so did I. However, the driver behind me did not. Within seconds, I felt the impact of his car as he crashed into me. At the time, I had been driving for fifteen years and yet for days after that, I was anxious, cautious, and hyper-focused whenever I drove. What I had taken for granted for so long was gone in a couple of seconds.
Trauma shatters our beliefs about ourselves, people, and the world. It shatters the structure of how we experience life and relationships, leaving us feeling jolted and unstable. After my accident, I thought about driving far more than I ever had before. I was anxious about situations that I’d given no thought to before. My accident wasn’t a lasting trauma, but we all have experiences in our lives that are lasting. Those experiences often happen when we are young because of the trust that it takes to be a child. Sometimes those experiences happen in adulthood when beliefs we’ve held get destroyed. I am safe becomes I am not safe. I am worthy becomes I am worthless. I am loved becomes I am unloved.
Those messages do not have to be the end of the story. We live in a fallen world which guarantees that we will have traumatic experiences, but I believe the power for our purpose and passion comes from our healed traumas. Remember that God redeems. He heals. He renews. He then uses those healed wounds to connect us more deeply to Himself and others. It may sound strange but I am so excited for our new Healing for Trauma workshops! I believe that trauma is the root of our wounds but healed trauma is the root of our strongest connections.
