Divorce SupportWho can you reach out to for divorce support, advice and help?
Separation
and
divorce
are some of the most difficult and traumatic life changes you can face. This journey will be a little easier if you reach out and get some good, Christian support. Resist the temptation to isolate yourself. Even if you feel like you want to hide away out of shame, guilt or embarrassment, you will be well on your road to
recovery
by seeking the help you need. Life is about relationships. When the most important relationship in your life (besides your relationship with God) is shattered, you need to draw strength from other healthy relationships. By healthy relationships, I do not mean you should become romantically involved with someone else. I mean you should seek support from
friendships
with people of the same sex. Entangling another partner in the broken pieces of your life without taking time for
divorce healing
and examine how you got here in the first place is bound to end in disaster. So who can you and should you go to for divorce support?Friends and Family can be a good source of support during your divorce. They can provide, at the very least, a loving shoulder to cry on and a listening ear. Although, there are some words of caution that you may want to review in the discussion on friends and family as a support network before you get into sharing all the details of your situation. Your Church Family is supposed to be a soft place to land no matter what you are going through. When one of the members suffer, everyone suffers with them (1Corinthians 12:25-26). Support Groups are a very common source of support and encouragement for people going through all kinds of life struggles. Groups have gathered to help each other weather the storms of grief, addictions, mental illness and yes, even divorce. Why? Because support groups offer a place for people experiencing similar life difficulties to share their struggles with others who understand and to encourage each other. Your Pastor can be a great resource. Pastors are generally very involved in the community in which the serve and in the lives of the people they lead. That involvement generally gives them knowledge and experience in helping people in a life crisis. Chances are, if there are specific issues they cannot personally help you with, they are able to refer you to someone in your community who can. A Christian Counselor should not be overlooked as a source of divorce support. I have a friend who went to a secular counselor for years and never saw any improvement. I am not knocking non-Christian counselors but her experience was that the counselor kept prescribing medications and never really dealt with the issues. It was not until she switched to a Christian Counselor that she began to see some improvement because the Christian Counselor was able to, with God's direction, discover the root issues that were contributing to her sense of despair. You may find the above sources of support all the help you need to survive your divorce but there may also be signs that you should seek professional help that should not be ignored. What are those signs? Return to Christian Divorce Support Online New! CommentsHave your say about what you just read! Leave me a comment in the box below. |
