Published by Revell on March 7, 2023
Genres: Non-Fiction, Christian Life
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If you have been hurt, neglected, rejected, or abandoned by your father, it may feel like every aspect of life is affected by that broken trust. Even your relationship with God can feel tenuous, but there is hope.
In this vulnerable book, author and speaker Kia Stephens shares her own story of father wounds, along with eye-opening examples from wounded women in Scripture who were transformed by the love of God. With great compassion, she helps you identify your father wounds and offers practical tools to help you overcome insecurity, low self-esteem, perfectionism, and trouble connecting with God as your loving heavenly father.
Take heart. Your father wounds do not have the last word in your life; God does. With help from Kia and love from God, you can be made whole again.
At the beginning of this book, Kia Stephens shares that when she first started talking about her father wounds, other women in all kinds of contexts would open up about their own, making her realize what a tremendous unspoken problem this is for so many women. She began a blog years ago to write about this subject, and in this book, she tells her story and shares advice for other Christian women dealing with wounds from abusive, neglectful, or abandoning fathers. She also includes some references to women who have lost their fathers to unexpected, early death. Because Stephens gives a wide variety of examples throughout the book, women will be able to connect with this book regardless whether or not their situation was like hers.
Stephens writes in a vulnerable, honest way about her personal struggles, exploring ways that her fatherless upbringing left her vulnerable to unhealthy relationships, low self-esteem, and desperation for love. She is honest about her mistakes without oversharing, and she doesn’t blame her father for everything that went wrong in her life, but she is honest and open about the harm that she experienced because she didn’t have a father in her life. She also writes about the ups and downs that she experienced while connecting with her father as an adult, and she encourages women in similar situations to set realistic expectations and determine whether or not it is safe for them to pursue a relationship with their father.
Overcoming Father Wounds: Exchanging Your Pain for God’s Perfect Love shares practical and spiritual advice for Christian women who are looking for love, trying to overcome past baggage, and working on building healthy relationships. Women who feel that others are dismissive of their father wounds may find this book especially helpful, since Stephens validates this pain and goes into detail about why loving, involved fathers matter so much in a girl’s development. The vast majority of the advice in this book revolves around a personal relationship with God, so women who are not believers are unlikely to connect with this book unless they are very open and curious about faith, but this will be a great fit for many Christian women who are looking for healing in this area of their lives.