Her name is Lyndsey and she came from a dysfunctional family. Her divorced parents treated her with distain and demeaned her very being. They blamed everything that they did wrong as parents on the fact that she deserved it; even that she caused it. They had to be mean to her because she caused them to act that way. They had to verbally abuse her because she caused them to act that way.
Lyndsey is now in her thirties, married and serving her country in the U.S. Coast Guard, but she still feels worthless, hurt, unloved and unappreciated. In her childlike voice, between sobs of pain and sorrow, she poured out her story for one of the few times in her life. As she explained, she has always been afraid to tell anyone, since she once told a close friend, and her friend could not handle the grief Lyndsey was feeling and pulled away from her completely. Lyndsey believes if she tells her story to anyone they will, like her parents, blame her.
But, she trusts June Hunt, especially when she hears of June’s own verbal and emotional abuse at the hands of her father. She opens up to June about the time her mother presented her with her beloved child hood pet, a bunny, dead in its cage, at the hands of her own mother. She tells how her mother left her to bury her little bunny with the admonition that, somehow, it was Lyndsey’s fault that her pet was dead.
Lyndsey weeps as she remembers the time; it was her birthday, and her mother bought her brother a present, but said she ran out of money and didn’t get her anything. No, they were not twins.
But here’s the happy part of Lyndsey’s story. She has trusted in the Lord, Jesus Christ, as her Savior. And she trusted June just long enough to tell her the truth about what happened to her in her life, and June told her about the Truth – that God’s Word is filled with Hope for “Precious Lyndsey.” That is what June called her, Precious Lyndsey, and Sweetie, as she affirmed Lyndsey’s value and worth.
As I sat next to June in the studio, praying, “Please God, give her the words to bring your Holy Spirit close – into the heart of your child, Lyndsey. And give Lyndsey ears to hear,” June quoted scripture and related her own similar experiences.
Lyndsey is not alone. She is in the arms of a loving and gracious God who sees her pain. There are others; our listeners, our staff, people who don’t even know Lyndsey’s real name, who were coming alongside her at that very moment and praying for her, not moving away, and certainly not blaming her.
This is Hope Realized. God’s Holy Word revealed, witnessed by his loving children to his loving children. We walk together and hold each other’s arms high as we fight against Satan and even our own minds. No, we can’t do it alone. We need God’s grace and his Word. We need the church of Jesus Christ.
Lyndsey still has a long way to go, but she is on the right path, the narrow road. Today, she knows that she is not alone, and the more she opens up and shares her experiences, the more she’ll be healed.
June’s final words to Lyndsey, as they often are to callers on the program, “You hang on to God’s hope.”
Amen.