Show Notes
When my friend Mags Ohmes became part of a grace-based church community, her healing journey took a significant turn. Through support groups and authentic relationships, she encountered the safety, love, and acceptance she had long needed. For the first time, she was able to bring painful struggles into the light without fear of rejection. As she joined ministry teams and developed close friendships with trusted brothers and sisters in Christ, she experienced the kind of encouragement and affirmation that helped reshape how she viewed herself. Slowly, the shame she had carried for years began to lose its hold. In this episode, Mags shares how healthy community became one of God's tools for healing in her life. She also talks about the transforming power of gratitude and how learning to focus on God's goodness shifted her perspective from shame and hopelessness to grace and hope. Through the support of loving friends and a growing awareness of God's faithfulness, Mags learned that she was worthy of love and acceptance. Her story is a beautiful testimony to the healing that can happen when we allow God and His people to speak truth into our lives.
To inquire about counseling, email Louise at [email protected].
More from Lifted to Hope
Wayne Jacobsen returns this week to share more of the journey he and his wife, Sara, walked through as they began to understand the effects of her unresolved trauma on their lives and marriage. As Wayne gained a deeper understanding of Sara's past, he came to recognize that her pain had become their pain. Rather than standing at a distance, he chose to walk alongside her, seeking to understand her experiences and do what he could to help her feel safe and loved. Through this difficult season, they experienced God's presence in the midst of their pain and discovered that healing begins when we are met with compassion, patience, and grace. Wayne also shares the heart behind his new book, Just Love, offering a fresh perspective on righteousness and the way God draws us to Himself. God is not asking us to perform or prove our worth to earn His love. Instead, He invites us into a relationship where we can experience His mercy, comfort, and grace. Just as Wayne chose to enter into his wife's pain rather than leave her to face it alone, God does not stand at a distance when trauma touches our lives. He comes close, meets us in our brokenness, and lovingly invites us into healing. This conversation offers a beautiful reminder that we are not alone in our suffering, and that God's love is not something we have to earn.
When a crisis hits, what we believe about love, commitment, and ourselves often comes to the surface. Wayne Jacobsen experienced this firsthand when his wife, Sara, left him after 46 years of marriage. Neither of them fully understood how unresolved trauma from Sara's past was shaping the way she interpreted their relationship. What Sara had believed was kindness toward others, she began to recognize as people pleasing, a pattern that had been robbing her of life. Rather than focusing on his accomplishments or responsibilities, Wayne chose to set everything else aside and seek God's wisdom about what was happening. He wanted to understand his wife's pain, examine his own heart, and discover how he could love her well. In this episode, Wayne shares the journey of learning to understand Sara's trauma, rebuild trust, and help create space for healing. Known for his work as a bestselling Christian author, founder of Lifestream Ministries, and co-host of The God Journey podcast, Wayne could have focused on the many things he had accomplished. Instead, he chose to prioritize his wife and pursue her heart with patience, humility, and love. His story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the most meaningful thing we can do is lay aside our own agendas to understand someone we love. I was deeply touched by Wayne's choices and the way he walked through this difficult season with Sara. I hope his story encourages you to consider what love looks like when the person closest to you is hurting.
Anne Wooten, author and life coach, returns this week to share more of her powerful story of what happened when her inner critic became her own persecutor and accuser. Years of bitterness and self-hatred had created a prison she struggled to escape, but in 2019, the Holy Spirit invited Anne to turn away from that destructive way of living and toward God Himself. As she responded to His invitation, Anne began to experience something she had long struggled to receive: God's love and forgiveness. She also discovered that she could extend that forgiveness to herself. Anne's journey did not stop with forgiveness. As she learned to live from her identity in Christ, she began to understand her value through the way God valued her. The accusations and lies that had shaped her view of herself no longer had to define who she was. Today, Anne shares this beautiful gift with others who long to experience the same freedom. Her story offers hope that we don't have to remain imprisoned by self-hatred, bitterness, or the voice of our inner critic. Through God's love, forgiveness, and the truth of who we are in Christ, freedom is possible.
Anne Wooten, Life Coach and author, grew up knowing that her parents loved her, but they rarely expressed that love with words. As she watched other parents openly tell their children they were loved, Anne began to wonder why she never heard those words from her own parents. Over time, that absence of verbal affirmation became a source of shame. She began to believe there was something wrong with her, and an inner critic took root, constantly telling her that she was unlovable and without value. In an effort to earn the love she longed for, Anne spent years striving to achieve and prove her worth. That inner critic eventually affected Anne physically, emotionally, and spiritually, leading her into patterns of self-hatred and harm. Her story is a powerful reminder of how deeply the messages we believe about ourselves can shape the way we live. In this episode, Anne honestly shares her journey and the impact of growing up without the affirmation she needed. If you have ever struggled with a harsh inner voice, felt unworthy of love, or believed you needed to achieve in order to be valued, Anne's story will give you an opportunity to recognize those patterns and consider the truth about your worth.
Melissa Gendreau, LMHC, returns this week to share what happens after we begin healing from shame and the wounds of our past. Healing does not mean we have reached a finish line. There is still room to grow, mature, and discover the person God created us to be. For years, Melissa walked alongside people as they worked through painful experiences and found freedom from the issues that had kept them stuck. But God began placing a new desire on her heart: to help people not only heal from their past, but also move forward into their future. We don't have to remain in a place of believing we will never move beyond shame or brokenness. As we grow in our understanding of who God says we are, we can begin to step into the good works He has prepared for us and live with greater joy and purpose. Melissa shares the hope of moving from simply surviving and healing into becoming all that God designed us to be. This journey can bring freedom, purpose, and joy while giving God great glory. Connect with Melissa: