Kathy Shelton - Healing Hearts: A Journey in the Midst of Spiritual Adversity

Copyright 2014 Kathy Shelton.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Cover photo taken by Kathy Shelton in Ouray, Colorado.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version . Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The principles outlined in this book are not a substitute for therapy. Persons who display severe emotional symptoms are encouraged to seek the help of a competent, Christian, mental health professional.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-2471-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2473-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2472-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014901757

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/31/2014

Contents

Dedication

Without a doubt, since 1986, the most important influence in my life has been my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This book is not only dedicated to Him, but without Him, it would not have been possible. I will never be able to thank God enough for what He has done for me and in me.

In addition, I dedicate this book to my mother, Dorothy Dunlop, who went to be with the Lord on July 20, 2005. My mom invited Jesus into her heart after I was miraculously healed of an incurable disease. She died of cancer, but her faith never once faltered as her illness progressed. I praise God that my mother is with Jesus in heaven. I know she would be extremely excited about this book.

Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to Donna Maull, my precious sister, who assisted in the birthing of this book by proofreading and editing it for me. Her encouragement and suggestions were greatly appreciated and pric eless.

To all those that the Lord has put in my life throughout the years, I also say, Thank you. Each one of you has helped me learn, grow, and trust God in various ways. There are too many to thank individually, but you know who you are. I pray that God blesses you abund antly.

For many years, the Lord has been preparing me to write this book. He has been the guiding force in my life since October 16, 1986, when I asked Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Savior. I had no idea at the time all that would entail, but I have never regretted that life-changing decision. Being an author is not something I ever desired to do, but I know that this is the Lords will. I also know that what the Lord directs, He bl esses.

Therefore, I am blessed to convey what is in my heart about the journey the Lord has had me on during the past twenty-seven years. It has been joyful and sad, exhilarating and exhausting, inspiring and heartbreaking, and much more. Along this journey, I have been made increasingly aware that the following verse is undeniably true.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His pu rpose.

(Romans 8:28)

Never have I been more convinced than I am now, that God uses everything in our lives for good. I have lived through significant pain and trauma and have prayed with many who have also survived the full gamut of trauma and are now living very productive lives in the freedom that only Jesus Christ can pr ovide.

Healing Hearts: A Journey in the Midst of Spiritual Adversity is the account of many of my personal experiences as well as what the Lord has taught me through others over the years. I am not a physician although I do have some training and experience working in the medical field. At one time, I was an Associate Member of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine . I am also not a licensed counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or in any way part of the secular mental health profe ssion.

I am an ordained minister who leads hurting people into freedom with inner healing prayer, and I have witnessed phenomenal results through the healing power of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! His love and compassion have grown in my heart as my journey has taken numerous twists and turns. Without Jesus sacrifice and His love, I do not believe healing of deep emotional and spiritual wounds would be pos sible.

If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, I pray that this book will encourage and bless you. If you do not yet know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, I pray that reading this book will draw you into that relationship and that your life will never be the same.

Kathy S helton

Cofounder, All for Jesus Mini stries

Chapter One

T hats right. It all began in New York. I was born in Queens, one of the five boroughs of New York City. The journey to New Mexico, where I now live with my husband of more than thirty years, began over forty years ago. Every part of my life, including the things that occurred before my relationship with Jesus Christ became a reality, has contributed to my ability to have compassion for those with broken h earts.

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic school until the middle of sixth grade, and went through all of the traditional milestones in the faith, such as baptism as a baby, First Communion, and confirmation. However, although they exposed me to the existence of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, none of that brought me into a personal relationship with Jesus. Only after I made a deeply heart-felt profession of faith and invited Jesus Christ into my life in 1986 was I able to begin my journey of becoming yielded to God. That made all the difference and paved the way for the Lord to work miracles in and throu gh me.

On that wonderfully fateful evening in October 1986, a dear friend, Janet, and her husband, Rick, the pastor of a Baptist church, visited my husband and me at our home. We had gone to their church after I worked with Janet for a while at a doctors office where she was the nurse. Janet had no transportation during her lunch breaks, but she often got a ride to the homes of people who were ill or unable for another reason to come to church. I gave Janet a ride to those homes several times and watched in awe as this godly woman loved the people the way Jesus taughtby reading the Bible out loud and praying with them. I had never before witnessed such sacrificial love. I wanted to experience what was causing her to live like that. Her genuine love for people is what sparked my interest to check out their c hurch.

My life changed forever the night Pastor Rick and Janet led me in a prayer to begin my personal relationship with Jesus. Bob had accepted Jesus as a child, but he was definitely not walking with the Lord at that time. Before that night, I was living for myself, doing whatever pleased me and much of it resulted in emotional pain and trauma. I was not attending church anywhere as I had decided that God and the whole religion thing were a farce. I was very cynical and even doubted much of what I had been taught growing up. It was only by the grace of God that I did not end up in serious trouble or dead. Thank God , He showered me with His mercy over and over. I believe that His hand was always upon my life in spite of my rebellion and lack of faith.