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Surprised by the Healer: Embracing Hope for Your Broken Story
An invitation to heal from sexual brokenness, Surprised by the Healer speaks comfort and courage to women who feel broken beyond repair. If that’s you, please know that God is the Healer, and He has invited you to find healing and wholeness in Him. Weaving together Scripture, the authors’ insights, and guest stories, Surprised by the Healer addresses questions like:
How can I heal from the trauma of sexual abuse?
What do I do with all the shame and fear that I feel?
How can I have intimacy now that I’m divorced?
What do I do if I’m addicted to pornography?
How can I have intimacy when sex is physically painful for me?
Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery, cofounders of Authentic Intimacy, have been writing and ministering to women in the church and clinical context for several decades. Their wisdom and experience overflow in this work to give you a trusted resource in journeying toward sexual healing. Includes a study guide for each chapter in the back of the book.
How can I heal from the trauma of sexual abuse?
What do I do with all the shame and fear that I feel?
How can I have intimacy now that I’m divorced?
What do I do if I’m addicted to pornography?
How can I have intimacy when sex is physically painful for me?
Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery, cofounders of Authentic Intimacy, have been writing and ministering to women in the church and clinical context for several decades. Their wisdom and experience overflow in this work to give you a trusted resource in journeying toward sexual healing. Includes a study guide for each chapter in the back of the book.
208 pages, Paperback
First published February 2, 2016
33 people are currently reading
198 people want to read
About the author
Linda Dillow
37 books162 followersLinda Dillow is no stranger to publishing and adventure. She's the author of Creative Counterpart, Calm My Anxious Heart, and The Blessings Book. Linda and her husband Jody lived in Europe and Asia for 17 years training Christian leaders in closed countries with Biblical Education by Extension, During this time, Linda traveled extensively in Romania, Russia, Hungary, Poland and Asia. She taught women and helped them launch women's ministries. This fire for encouraging and educating others continues as she speaks at women's conferences here and abroad.
Linda's newest adventure is a new ministry that she started with Dr. Juli Slattery- Authentic Intimacy. This ministry focuses on women and their intimacy with their husbands and God.
Linda and Jody Dillow have been married forty years. She is a mother of four children, as well as a grandmother.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 11, 2024
This book focuses on sexual brokenness. There is a variety of stories dealing with this topic straight from women who experienced it and how God has healed them (maybe not always in the way they hoped, but always in the way they needed). After a woman’s story was shared, Julie and Linda add their own guidance and thoughts surrounding the topic.
If you have any areas of broken sexuality in your life I highly recommend this book.
One thing I appreciated about this book was how the stories showed just because you are saved by Christ doesn’t mean you are healed. I think there can be a misconception in the Christian life that if you are saved you are healed. But that can lead to shame around the broken areas of your life tempting you to stay in the dark or try to fix it yourself. Christ is our Savior but he’s also our healer and longs to walk with us in the broken parts of our life as we surrender them to him.
My main takeaway was that we need to stop trying to fix our broken and instead allow the healer to touch us.
If you have any areas of broken sexuality in your life I highly recommend this book.
One thing I appreciated about this book was how the stories showed just because you are saved by Christ doesn’t mean you are healed. I think there can be a misconception in the Christian life that if you are saved you are healed. But that can lead to shame around the broken areas of your life tempting you to stay in the dark or try to fix it yourself. Christ is our Savior but he’s also our healer and longs to walk with us in the broken parts of our life as we surrender them to him.
My main takeaway was that we need to stop trying to fix our broken and instead allow the healer to touch us.
November 20, 2023
This book took me much longer then I wanted to read it for because each chapter was so beautiful and had me teary eye. This book opened my eyes of how good god is in others peoples lives but also mine on sexual brokenness! God is a healer and he loves his children so much! Definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year. It is a hard read with some upsetting content to read but it just shows how much of a good healer god is and wants these women to continue working on this journey!
March 14, 2016
This is one of those books that felt like riding a roller coaster. First, the despair, pain, and grief. Then, hope. Lots and lots of hope. Then with the next testimony-despair, pain, grief. Then an overabundance of hope. It continues like this through the entire text. Some of the stories are excruciatingly hard to read, but then you get to read and experience the restoration. Beautiful and glorious restoration!
Surprised by the Healer has earned a permanent spot in my library. It's the perfect tool to share with anyone dealing with ANY kind of intimacy issues. It paints a beautiful picture of our redemption in Jesus. It proves that He does care and He does hear us. It also comforts us to know-we are not alone.
While reading this book, I was confronted by many past issues that I thought I had dealt with. The face that I was fighting tears about 3 pages it-proved otherwise. I can't wait to go through the Bible study. I feel blessed and honored to have been on this launch team. Although I signed up to help, I'm pretty sure the Lord orchestrated me to be here because I had some unfinished business in this area.
*I received this book in exchange for a review. Opinions are 100% my own.*
Surprised by the Healer has earned a permanent spot in my library. It's the perfect tool to share with anyone dealing with ANY kind of intimacy issues. It paints a beautiful picture of our redemption in Jesus. It proves that He does care and He does hear us. It also comforts us to know-we are not alone.
While reading this book, I was confronted by many past issues that I thought I had dealt with. The face that I was fighting tears about 3 pages it-proved otherwise. I can't wait to go through the Bible study. I feel blessed and honored to have been on this launch team. Although I signed up to help, I'm pretty sure the Lord orchestrated me to be here because I had some unfinished business in this area.
*I received this book in exchange for a review. Opinions are 100% my own.*
March 13, 2016
"God is more interested in strengthening my character than He is about making me happy."
This book is important because we either know women who have struggled or are struggling with the deep pain of sexual brokenness or we are one of those women. I am the latter. The above quote was one that struck me profoundly. While I would be perfectly happy for circumstances to be different and never had any personal experience with this subject, God is in the process of strengthening my character and uprooting the shame, anger, and bitterness that desire to make their home in my heart and mind. This book is filled with hope and has been a useful tool over the last several weeks. I did give side-eyes a couple of times because books geared toward women can be a bit cheesy at times, but it was a mild cheese. I will probably re-read this one in the near future.
This book is important because we either know women who have struggled or are struggling with the deep pain of sexual brokenness or we are one of those women. I am the latter. The above quote was one that struck me profoundly. While I would be perfectly happy for circumstances to be different and never had any personal experience with this subject, God is in the process of strengthening my character and uprooting the shame, anger, and bitterness that desire to make their home in my heart and mind. This book is filled with hope and has been a useful tool over the last several weeks. I did give side-eyes a couple of times because books geared toward women can be a bit cheesy at times, but it was a mild cheese. I will probably re-read this one in the near future.
January 22, 2016
Wow!!! my heart is overwhelmed at the honesty and the miracles contained within these pages. while my situation is not even close to these dire circumstances, I can relate to some of the feelings and the lies that these women believed at one time. I think every woman should read this to gain the confidence to share our stories without shame or guilt so we can all find healing in Jehovah Rapha no matter what situation we are in.
April 2, 2019
This is a book which is not easy to read. But it is a book that needs to be read, too!
The book contains the story of 9 female survivors of the different kind of sexual hurt/trauma. They are survivors - and they are even more, they are "transformers": meaning that they have transformed their hearts and their lives to gain triumph, joy and peace from their scars and pains. Their stories are told here to be an encouragement to the other women, suffering from this kind of trauma - or not.
This is a Christian nonfiction book.
Luckily, I have not experienced this kind of trauma. But, of course, I have my own stash of my own, as everybody has, too. And while the source of hurt may differ, the healing processes can have some similarities. So I gained a lot from these stories of healing and forgiveness and all the wisdom behing starting at questioning God the "Why" question and finishing with "How, God ?".
Particularly Rita´s and Alaine´s story have touched my heart deeply.
The book is very gentle when describing all the sexual hurts, pain and scars the women suffered, not telling everything and not "graphic", so to say. While I perfectly understand the reasoning behind that limited descriptions and I am sure many women are thankful for this gentle approach, I would be honored to be a part of their stories, even if they involve horrible details. Not of cheap curiosity, no. But because knowing the depth of pain, I would appreciate the depth of healing even more. But as I said, I understand the reasoning behind that.
The book contains the story of 9 female survivors of the different kind of sexual hurt/trauma. They are survivors - and they are even more, they are "transformers": meaning that they have transformed their hearts and their lives to gain triumph, joy and peace from their scars and pains. Their stories are told here to be an encouragement to the other women, suffering from this kind of trauma - or not.
This is a Christian nonfiction book.
Luckily, I have not experienced this kind of trauma. But, of course, I have my own stash of my own, as everybody has, too. And while the source of hurt may differ, the healing processes can have some similarities. So I gained a lot from these stories of healing and forgiveness and all the wisdom behing starting at questioning God the "Why" question and finishing with "How, God ?".
Particularly Rita´s and Alaine´s story have touched my heart deeply.
The book is very gentle when describing all the sexual hurts, pain and scars the women suffered, not telling everything and not "graphic", so to say. While I perfectly understand the reasoning behind that limited descriptions and I am sure many women are thankful for this gentle approach, I would be honored to be a part of their stories, even if they involve horrible details. Not of cheap curiosity, no. But because knowing the depth of pain, I would appreciate the depth of healing even more. But as I said, I understand the reasoning behind that.
December 29, 2022
This book is a powerful collection of accounts written by nine women who experienced various harrowing types of sexual, relational, emotional, and ultimately spiritual brokenness and were met by Jesus in their pain. Their testimonies of experiencing God as their Healer—and of the Lord’s beautiful design for intimacy—will remain with me. God’s healing work may be completely different from what we ask or expect, but it is creative and redemptive, for His glory and our good.
January 28, 2020
Ten women share their stories of brokenness relating to sexuality—and how the Healer met them. This book gives hope, but does not promise Disney endings. Each woman was and is ministering to others as a result of leaning into the pain she experienced. Redemption is written all over these stories and they are beautiful.
June 6, 2020
Nine women share their stories of God working in the midst of sexual wounds and brokenness. It was powerful to hear these women tell their stories, share what God has taught them, and hear some practical solutions for walking through something similar in your own life. Their stories presented so many different situations and how none of them are beyond God's reach.
May 23, 2019
Such an encouraging book about what God can heal in a person's life -- especially where betrayal is concerned. Each story is unique & shows the power of God (many times where forgiveness is in play). I highly recommend this book.
August 18, 2024
Wow! What a page turner! I will not add details or spoilers. This is a good read I recommend for both women and men just to grasp a need understanding for what our God can truly heal us from! Also includes a 10 week bible study in the back.
January 7, 2019
This booked helped me a lot I highly recommend it.
February 4, 2024
Oof…this was not an easy read but the stories of God’s healing hand in the lives of these women were beautiful.
February 24, 2021
We live in a broken world, a world that has been broken by sin. Whether it be the sins we’ve committed, or the sins committed against us, we have all seen the consequences played out in our lives, as well as the lives of those around us. Some of our brokenness is visible to others, while other times the brokenness is internal, often making our struggles unknown on the surface. Of all the brokenness we as humans struggle with internally, sexuality is probably one of the most difficult to overcome. For many, the struggles with the things we’ve done or the things done against keep us in hiding in fear. It’s hard to know what to do when in you’re in the depths of that struggle, or what to do when someone you love is facing such a struggle. It makes us ask the question: can we find hope amidst our brokenness?
In the book Surprised by the Healer, you meet nine women that found hope in the midst of their personal and sexual brokenness. They all courageously chose to share their stories, stories of sins and struggles that most of us would be afraid to share. While following the journeys of these women in such an honest and vulnerable way, everyone will find ways in which they relate to the brokenness of these women. Even if you’ve never experienced sexual brokenness somehow, you will find ways in which your personal struggles with mirror these women’s stories. Although all their stories are different, they all had one thing in common: they were all surprised with healing in their brokenness by Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. Their healings looked different, and many of them are still a work in progress, but they all found healing and freedom from the prison of their brokenness. After each story, authors Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery take us through the principles of healing proclaimed in each story. This book doesn’t end in a sermon demanding that you have everything all put together, but it ends with an invitation to be surprised by the healing you will find if you choose to pursue it. It’s a matter of choice to pursue it yourself, or to help others do the same.
This book is specifically for women (17 and older), but it is especially for women that have brokenness in your past (or present), or those that desire to counsel women who have such brokenness in their lives. This book can be a powerful tool, if you choose to use it.
In the book Surprised by the Healer, you meet nine women that found hope in the midst of their personal and sexual brokenness. They all courageously chose to share their stories, stories of sins and struggles that most of us would be afraid to share. While following the journeys of these women in such an honest and vulnerable way, everyone will find ways in which they relate to the brokenness of these women. Even if you’ve never experienced sexual brokenness somehow, you will find ways in which your personal struggles with mirror these women’s stories. Although all their stories are different, they all had one thing in common: they were all surprised with healing in their brokenness by Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. Their healings looked different, and many of them are still a work in progress, but they all found healing and freedom from the prison of their brokenness. After each story, authors Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery take us through the principles of healing proclaimed in each story. This book doesn’t end in a sermon demanding that you have everything all put together, but it ends with an invitation to be surprised by the healing you will find if you choose to pursue it. It’s a matter of choice to pursue it yourself, or to help others do the same.
This book is specifically for women (17 and older), but it is especially for women that have brokenness in your past (or present), or those that desire to counsel women who have such brokenness in their lives. This book can be a powerful tool, if you choose to use it.
February 19, 2016
Even in our ultra-modern churches and Christian circles, sexual issues are many times a taboo subject. Somehow, the stigma of shame and guilt just continues to hover over those struggling with healing and renewal and the light is not often shed in those dark and shadowy places.
This is the first book I have ever encountered that tackles the topics of pornography, abortion, rape, incest, prostitution and many others that women are still battling in churches today. Christian women, those whose lives have been renewed by Jesus' love and saving grace, but who have not walked out into their full healing due to shame from their past sins. Surprised by the Healer was a tough book to read. There are real life stories between its front and back covers of real women and their real struggles. So many hurts and broken lives. But the wonderful part of the book is the hope it brings. Hope that no matter where you've been Jesus sees all of you and still loves you. He stands with open arms waiting for us to run to Him and give all of our cares to Him.
If you are in need of full healing from your past, or if you know another woman who could benefit from this book, I highly encourage you to grab a copy and "embrace hope for your broken story."
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is the first book I have ever encountered that tackles the topics of pornography, abortion, rape, incest, prostitution and many others that women are still battling in churches today. Christian women, those whose lives have been renewed by Jesus' love and saving grace, but who have not walked out into their full healing due to shame from their past sins. Surprised by the Healer was a tough book to read. There are real life stories between its front and back covers of real women and their real struggles. So many hurts and broken lives. But the wonderful part of the book is the hope it brings. Hope that no matter where you've been Jesus sees all of you and still loves you. He stands with open arms waiting for us to run to Him and give all of our cares to Him.
If you are in need of full healing from your past, or if you know another woman who could benefit from this book, I highly encourage you to grab a copy and "embrace hope for your broken story."
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2016
For so many women, there is a part of themselves that remains hidden. They are able to present a brave, even happy, face to the world, but inside there is a deep hurt and often shame related to sexuality. Rather than run to God with this brokenness, they have resigned themselves to simply live with its effects.
In Surprised by the Healer: An Invitation to Meet God in Your Sexual Brokenness, Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery allow women to tell their own stories of sexual brokenness, whether that of infidelity, addiction, promiscuity, abuse, or some other issue. These women, some with very painful pasts, did not stay in this place of brokenness, however. They moved beyond it to victory, all through their own encounters with the Healer, Jehovah Rapha.
This is a book that is so needed as it deals with a relatively untouched part of women's lives. The stories presented in the book are honest and heartfelt, showing the reader that perhaps they are not the only person who has felt such feelings of isolation and pain. The stories, though, are very much about hope and healing. Even if trauma has occurred, a victorious life is possible.
As there is most likely some element of brokenness in all women, this book will surely appeal to many readers. It is a thoughtful and spiritually enriching book.
Disclaimer: I was given an advanced copy of this book for review.
In Surprised by the Healer: An Invitation to Meet God in Your Sexual Brokenness, Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery allow women to tell their own stories of sexual brokenness, whether that of infidelity, addiction, promiscuity, abuse, or some other issue. These women, some with very painful pasts, did not stay in this place of brokenness, however. They moved beyond it to victory, all through their own encounters with the Healer, Jehovah Rapha.
This is a book that is so needed as it deals with a relatively untouched part of women's lives. The stories presented in the book are honest and heartfelt, showing the reader that perhaps they are not the only person who has felt such feelings of isolation and pain. The stories, though, are very much about hope and healing. Even if trauma has occurred, a victorious life is possible.
As there is most likely some element of brokenness in all women, this book will surely appeal to many readers. It is a thoughtful and spiritually enriching book.
Disclaimer: I was given an advanced copy of this book for review.
March 29, 2016
Surprised by the Healer: Embracing Hope for Your Broken Story by Linda Dillow and Dr. Juli Slattery is FULL of stories told by nine brave women who have found healing from the Healer.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is...
"There is nothing too broken for God to heal" page 13
Isn't that beautiful and so true? If we will turn it over to Him.
The authors use Biblical scripture along with nine courageous women who tell their stories of hurt, pain, heartache, etc. and how He has healed each of them. Women who have been sexually abused, physically abused, cheated on etc., they all gave it over to God.
Another great quote...
"Scars remind us where we have been, but they do not have to dictate where we are going" page 89
I love this one, as everyone has scars of some type, some hidden, and some not. But our Lord can heal them all.
I'm thankful for every brave woman that shared her story for this book to written, and to the authors. It is a book I'm glad I chose to read. I recommend it to all women.
I received a FREE copy from Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is...
"There is nothing too broken for God to heal" page 13
Isn't that beautiful and so true? If we will turn it over to Him.
The authors use Biblical scripture along with nine courageous women who tell their stories of hurt, pain, heartache, etc. and how He has healed each of them. Women who have been sexually abused, physically abused, cheated on etc., they all gave it over to God.
Another great quote...
"Scars remind us where we have been, but they do not have to dictate where we are going" page 89
I love this one, as everyone has scars of some type, some hidden, and some not. But our Lord can heal them all.
I'm thankful for every brave woman that shared her story for this book to written, and to the authors. It is a book I'm glad I chose to read. I recommend it to all women.
I received a FREE copy from Moody Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion.
March 4, 2016
It seems that there are more and more women who have or currently are living with sexual trauma. This book walks through the stories from 9 women who are walking through healing that only can come from Jesus Christ. This book is powerful and frequently brought me to tears.
April 6, 2016
There are some really powerful stories in this book! You can definitely see God's hand at work in the lives of these women. Very encouraging to read.
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