The Healing Garden

By Stacey Hazlett

Have you ever looked at a person’s garden and wondered about the process they went through to make it look so beautiful? How were they able to have been blessed with a bountiful harvest? It is an extensive process to accomplish this, and it is the same when you go through the healing process to become whole again. I found so much healing in our garden and I am honored to share what God has done for me through this experience, just as I know He will do for you if you only allow him. So, are you ready to plant some seeds?

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385006137

Stacey Hazlett

Stacey Hazlett is a child of our one and only Jesus Christ, a wife, a mother, a teacher of the word of God, a middle school Math teacher, a Business teacher, a Computer teacher, an Elementary teacher, and also an author of the book, Counterfeit Christian. Her education includes a B.S. in Elementary Education, a Masters in Business Administration, and a certificate from the Jerusalem Prophecy College through Endtime Ministries. She is also a person who has been abused and has gone through the whole healing process through the Holy Spirit, God’s Holy Word, Pastors, and a Counselor. Now, she wants to share the journey that God took her on to find unvarnished peace.

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Copyright © 2023 Stacey Hazlett.

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Scriptures marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,

copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of

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ISBN: 979-8-3850-0612-0 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-3850-0613-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023916232

WestBow Press rev. date: 08/31/2023

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1     My Afflictions

Chapter 2     Broken World

Chapter 3     Plowing the Old to Prepare for the New

Chapter 4     Enriching the Soil

Chapter 5     Building a Fence

Chapter 6     Planting the Seeds

Chapter 7     Water Is Life

Chapter 8     The Sun and Its Light

Chapter 9     Weeds, Weeds, and More Weeds: The Parable of the Weeds

Chapter 10   Growing Pains

Chapter 11   Beautiful Blossoms

Chapter 12   More Growth

Chapter 13   The Harvest

Chapter 14   How to Preserve

Chapter 15   The Winter Season

Chapter 16   Starting Over, But Not from Scratch

Afterword

Resources

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am blessed beyond all measures. I am also thankful for everything God has done in my life. He is such a good, good Father. Even when I couldn’t see what he was doing, he has always been working on my behalf, turning all things for good. I want to thank my first love, Jesus Christ. You are my Savior, my eternal husband, my eternal Father, and my best friend! I thank you, Jesus, for using me in such a beautiful way, and I welcome you to always work in me to grow the glory of your heavenly kingdom.

I thank the first earthly love of my life, Jason. You have always been there for me and have been so understanding. I also thank you for encouraging and supporting me in all the opportunities that God has given me and called me to do. I thank you for showing me this beautiful process of working a garden, which opened the door for God to help me heal and allowed me to come into wholeness. I pray our working in the garden has also brought you peace and healing as well. I love you so much just for who you are!

I thank Dillon for being a huge part of my healing process and the support that he has given me to see this book through. I know God had me wait for ten years until he gave me you, but Dillon, you are so worth the wait, and I can’t imagine being anyone else’s mom! Dillon, you and Dad are a huge reason why I am who I am. God placed you both with me for this reason, and I am so blessed beyond words. I love you both so much and thank God every day for you.

I also thank my friends Heather and Jeremy. I am so amazed by how God has worked in our lives and kept us together all these years. You both helped me to heal spiritually, mentally, and physically as you guided me to other people I needed to help me through one of the hardest times in my life. I have no idea where I would be at this point in my life without you both. You are definitely my spiritual sister and brother in Christ. I love you both so much.

Depending on what you have been through, it is important to heal spiritually. However, remember that mental health is important as well. Please seek those Christian professionals who can help with the behavioral-cognitive strategies that are so important to function in life. Rest is also good for your body and mind. Take time to not process everything going on in your life. (Thank you, Jim!)

As you begin to read The Healing Garden, you will be able to see how many people have helped me through it all. But most important, you will know for sure the one who had all of this in his hands. The one and only one who can turn all things into good and bring beauty from ashes. This is the I Am, and his name is Jesus.

INTRODUCTION

Past. The past can sure hold you in a place you don’t want to be … stuck! What events in a person’s life can leave that individual in an unwanted emotional place? These types of events may include the death of a parent, the death of a sibling, the death of a spouse, health issues, physical and emotional abuse, sexual abuse, and failures; the list can go on and on. Your past can dictate your future if you allow it. The key phrase in that last sentence is, allow it.

This lesson is so hard to learn and be able to move on from. However, you are the one allowing it to happen. You can say to me, Stacey, you don’t understand what this person did to me. I am here to tell you we all have something that has happened to us that affects us in many ways. Everyone has something. You are not alone in this; we are all in the same boat. However, we do not have to give power to the past and let it control our present and future.

I know about sexual abuse. It affects your mind, body, and spirit. The reason that I am telling you this is because I know what pain is like. This was something that caused me PTSD, depression, and anxiety. I look back at all those years and wonder how I am still here physically and mentally. I know what you are feeling, and that is quite a dark place to be in. You have put up walls so thick and high that you can’t even fathom what it is like not being suffocated by them. You can’t have a healthy relationship with anyone because you can’t stop thinking about what happened to you. It is hard for you to trust anyone because a trust was so broken all those years ago. The feelings that accompany this include shame, sadness, anger, fear, and hostility.

God has delivered me from the hell that remained inside my body all the way into my soul. It hurt. I was broken to the core, and being broken means everything else in your life will be broken. God has taken me through this beautiful healing in my actual garden as I learned the process of gardening!

Ask yourself this question: Who keeps throwing your past in your face? Allow me to also ask you this: Have you ever not thought about a bad event that occurred in your life for a while and then BAM, there it is again in your head? You know, the types of memories that churn up all those negative emotions that cause worry, fear, anxiety, paranoia, sadness, anger, and so on. Where does this memory come from? Who brought this memory back into your mind? It is not a person in the human form; I can tell you that. Think about when no one is physically around you, but you still think about the past, and all those emotions that cause the turmoil that swirls around in your mind like a bad storm. Are you still not sure who I am talking about? The enemy! Satan himself is the reason your past is always flashing in your mind. Why would he do this? The answer is simple: Because he does not want you to heal. He doesn’t want you to become