One of the hardest things to heal from in my healing journey, were the feelings of hatred I have felt against the man who sexually abused me as a little girl. Thinking about him or hearing his name would rouse a fire of hatred within me that I didn't want there. I prayed to God to help me forgive him, but the wound remained. The bitterness of a shattered life and damaged relationships that sexual abuse caused, But God! Recently, a friend of mine and I were talking about our favorite books in the bible. He said His favorite is the book of James - the same name as my abuser. A sneer came across my heart and I prayed right there to be healed from this - I have got to let it go... and God listened. His healing came through the generosity of a complete stranger.
In our new apartment complex, my daughter wanted to make cookies for everyone in the building. She tenderly put two cookies in a sandwich bag and secured them to a pretty sparkly ribbon, and wrote a little note on each to let people know where they had come from. A few days later, a knock at the door, our neighbor across the hall had been wanting to say thank you - he didn't feel that a simple note on the door was enough, so he bought the girls juice boxes. Beyond that, he told me that he would be moving the following week and wanted to know if he could give me some things he wouldn't be able to take along with him. Kind of embarrassed, I accepted his offer... and a very full shopping bag full of food later, it finally hit me that we had never formally introduced, so I asked his name. It was James. A peace and a joy washed over me. A hurting and painful name, turned into an association of generosity and kindness, and I was finally free to let go.
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