You're listening to the Allender Center podcast with Dr. Dan Allender.

This week, as we conclude our series about spiritual abuse, Dan and I, Rachel Clinton,

explore the long, slow movement out of abusive contexts, and the work of tending to small areas of

growth while trusting that God is contending for us in the big areas.

As we come to this final broadcast on dealing with the effects of spiritual abuse and not just mind control, but also the effects on the body.

And they are so woven together.

So as Rachel and I deal with this, in between the making of the last one and this one, you brought up, Rachel, such an important point that I will invite you to name again.

Just aware that this is material in labor and work that is somewhat normative for us to spend time in.

And there are ways we can talk about it that if you're not in a really tender place that's

honoring, it could probably feel a little bit retramatizing.

And so our hope and kind of pastoral call would just be to make sure as

you're listening, if this is part of your story, that there is an invitation for profound kindness

and maybe even to the extent that you can, a simple prayer to ask Jesus to really shield and guard your hearts and your minds and your

bodies. Because this is material that even if it's helpful to have someone put language to it,

it's so deeply connected to your body. So if you need to take a walk, a long walk and take a pause,

if you need to have that sense of a long walk and take a pause, if you need to have that sense

of just actually being connected to the dirt, to the world, if you need to drink some good

chamomile tea, or actually say, I actually want to listen to this with a friend and be able

to have conversation afterward.

Just inviting wisdom and kindness.

And if in your listening, you find yourself, like you can't remember what we talked about a minute before,

it would actually be a wonderful thing to just go, not now.

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