Divorce is a journey (an often most unwanted journey) and healing from such a tumultuous event is a process. It cannot be hurried, it cannot be avoided (for your own mental and emotional health), and it doesn’t look the same for every person.
“From Broken Vows to Healed Hearts” is a guide to seeking God after divorce. Written by Rebecca Mitchell, it’s crammed full of compassion, understanding, rawness, and the voice of a friend who has been there and “gets it.”
I was able to do an interview with Mitchell, a local author who wrote this book as part of her own recovery process. She was kind enough to sit with my wife and me over coffee and share her personal journey to finding her own healing after her divorce. Books make an even deeper impression when you’ve met face to face and heard the story of the author. Like many, Mitchell knows the pain and challenges of a failed marriage. Fueled by her own experiences and hurts (but also ultimate victory), she does a great job helping others to create a cohesive narrative of their own story while finding a new identity – one outside of who they once were to who they are now.
Mitchell’s book “From Broken Vows to Healed Hearts” is more a process than an event, in that it’s not just information, but a chance to progress through the steps and stages of healing. It’s formatted to cover a twelve week period with five days per week to cover each chapter. Each day includes scripture reading, open insight from Mitchell, prayer, and questions to reflect on or journal on. The chapters are also broken into three parts: The Initial Devastation, The Struggle to Face Our New Reality, and The Promise of Restoration and Healing.
Please hear me: Just because this book is broken into twelve weeks, doesn’t mean you have to move that quickly through it – a healing process is not complete in just three months and that is an unrealistic (and unhealthy) expectation to place on yourself. But, these twelve chapters do meet you where you are, and give you tools and insight for working through the grief and healing process that surely follows any divorce. Take them at your own pace, or read through and go back to each section as you’re there in your own journey. This book is a tool, a resource, and a guide. Use it as such.
Honest and relatable, Mitchell gives hope that you too can move from the brokenness you may be experiencing right now. This season of grief is just a season and it’s not your long term identity. You can embrace the emotions you’re feeling right now but also learn to eventually reclaim your joy. Mitchell leaves no stone unturned in this healing process.
Whether you’re newly divorced or you never really dealt with it when you were, this book is easy to follow along with and great for both individual use and group programs like Divorce Care. While it’s written from a woman’s perspective, it could just as easily be used for men (trust me on that fellas, I’m a man too). You don’t have to stay where you are. You canmove from Broken Vows to Healed Hearts.