RUMINATE - a must read for pastors and leaders.

Designed to Heal is wonderful gift. It has left me chewing and digesting the truths long after I have listened to the audio version of the book. It has allowed me to revisit the past, contemplate on the present and the future.
As a believer in Jesus for 34 years and a pastor for the last 9 years, I have had my share of personal non-physical injuries but also at the same time has caused injuries to others. I have also witnessed conflict in leadership circles I was a part of and relationships in the different local church families that I belonged to over the years. I have been involved in counseling sessions with young couples, family issues, single adults, and youth group conflicts. Some were resolved, some injuries not fully healed, and sadly some never healed at all which resulted in the death of relationships. The book has given me a light to revisit the past and look at it from a whole new perspective. I found myself repeatedly saying “hmmm, it makes sense now” or “I now know what I could have done better” as I listened to one chapter after another.
The book has also made me contemplate about the present, ongoing conflicts, and what I can and the church family/community do to be part of the healing process. I now realize that while we can never have zero conflict in the future, but we can deal with injuries properly (rather than just ignoring it hoping it will just go away) before it causes greater and irreparable damage to the body.
Perhaps the striking concepts I take away from the book are: understanding that there is a healing process with very distinct stages; that there needs to be a healing matrix in the church family and what that looks like, and finally that there are at times obstacles preventing proper healing to occur that has to be addressed. There are definitely so much more in the book that I have yet to ruminate.
I have to admit that since I do not have a medical or scientific training like the authors, it was a bit challenging trying to keep up with some of the technical terms and discussion of the principles. But what I appreciate the most is how the authors translated those principles through illustrations, stories, and down to earth real-life situations and applications. The book is not only an amazing intersection between science and faith but it is a book that marries theory and practice.
I highly recommend this book to pastors and church leadership teams not only to help them in their own lives but also the local churches that they lead. As for me, I need go through the book again, this time underlining and writing notes on my hard copy that is on its way. Finally, I got to list down some names I will give this book to as a gift this Christmas.

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