Millions of women walk through life with deep emotional pain, feeling trapped in loneliness, hopelessness, and worthlessness. As a result, they act out in unhealthy behaviors.
These unhealthy behaviors can take many forms: a runaway fantasy life fed by romance novels or erotica; sexual addiction; pornography addiction; relationship addiction; physical or sexual abuse; sexual identity, unwanted same sex attraction; drug and alcohol abuse; eating disorders; compulsive spending; gambling, violence, self-injury, etc…
Yes, it can be complicated. I know because I struggled most of my life with everything on this list in one form or another. Because of deep shame, embarrassment, potential judgement and criticism, women rarely open up to anyone personally. It’s my hope to provide a place where they can find a form of acceptance by realizing they aren’t alone in their shame and suffering it’s my prayer that through the power of the Holy Spirit you will find your own healing on these pages.
RHW Grows:
In 2008, in the very early years of my addiction recovery, I began writing my blog as a personal journal hoping it could also help other women who were struggling with these same various life issues. Over time my topics evolved as I read many books, discovered more about myself, grew in my life of recovery and my walk with the Lord.
In 2011 I was introduced to Benedictine monasticism which is derived from The Rule of Benedict written by Saint Benedict of Nursia for the monks in his Italian monastery over 1500 years ago. Known as the father of Western monasticism, St. Benedict and his rule have had a tremendous impact on the Christian church. Because Benedict lived before any divisions in the church, his teachings apply equally to all Christians. Surprisingly, the rule provides extraordinary insight into today’s major spiritual issues. Once I started this new spiritual journey, I knew I was coming home to new revelations of recovery.
After studying Benedictine spirituality, I was led to become a Benedictine Oblate. Oblates are ordinary people who dedicate their lives to God similar to monks. But rather than taking vows and living secluded lives behind the wall of a monastery, Oblates make spiritual commitments that are lived outside the wall in ordinary lives. Saint Benedict wrote what he calls the 12 Steps of Humility in his monastic rule. In studying these rules, I discovered an amazing correlation to the traditional Twelve Steps of Recovery. As a result, I focused a couple of years on blending Benedictine principles with the traditional 12 Steps of Recovery.
RHW Mission:
At Reaching Hurting Women Ministries we continue learning new and healthy ways to overcome our daily struggles. With the healing power of the Holy Spirit as our guide, we integrate 12 Step recovery principles with journaling, prayer, Scripture confession, soaking with inspirational music and other artistic expressions in God’s Presence. It’s my hope you will journey with me as we walk into our victorious life of recovery over the hurts, habits and hang-ups that have held us captive for too long.
The RHW Ministries site is a budding plant always growing and changing. The platform to share our Victory Journey with Christ will always evolve but the mission remains constant: “To walk in victory with Christ, sharing His love, hope and healing with women everywhere.”
You will find a variety of articles as you navigate down the right menu bar. Check out the Category dropdown box, peruse 15+ years of articles in the RHW Archives dropdown box, or select from the many topics in the Word Cloud. If you like to read books, explore Tamara’s Goodreads Bookshelf where you will find over 500 books she has read during the past 20 years.
Please feel free to reach out. You can DM me on either our RHW Ministries Facebook page or on Instagram page.
Walking in Victory with Christ…
Tamara
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