A Woman's Wound

I've been reading a fascinating book lately. As a present, I received John and Stasi Eldredge's book Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul. If you've ever read any of John Eldredge's books, then you know his works delve deeply into the heart and soul of what shapes men and women.

There are many fascinating aspects to this book, but the one I want to touch on today is from "Chapter Four: Wounded". This section gripped me in a way I hadn't thought much about in the past. Basically, women all have a wound from their pasts. That wound could happen at anytime in our upbringing, and much of the wounding that continues on past that initial wound almost always relates back to it.

Some of the stories Stasi shares are so sad, but there are those I can relate to. For instance, some women's wounds stem from having passive fathers, men who paid more attention to their drinking and carousing with friends than they did their own daughters' dance recitals. Some women's wounds stem from just the fact that they were born a girl or that they were born at all. One woman's father rejected her at birth, simply because she was not born a boy. She prayed all throughout her childhood that God would make her into a boy. Stasi Eldredge relates her own story about being the fourth and final child in a family that didn't want anymore children. She always saw herself as problematic because she was even born at all. Another woman's father divorced his mother over an affair. When she spent any time with her father after that, this is what she had to say:

"I learned to cry underwater. When we'd go to the pool, I didn't want him to see me cry."

And how could I not cry over words like that?

This isn't the first time I've heard of the woman's wound, but it's the first time I've really taken a look at the wound inside myself and how it relates to what my life has been like since. I see my life as a path strewn with failure, even though I've been told many times that's not my path at all. But it's getting me to actually see my skewed view that's important.

I still have to read the chapter on healing the wound, and when I do, I'll get back to you on that one.

Have you ever thought about your wound? Did you even think you had one?