Three Types of Father Wounds God Heals
I don’t remember where I was the first time I heard the two-word phrase “father wound”.
Maybe I was perusing the internet.
Maybe I was scanning a list of book titles.
Maybe I was in church.
What I do remember is the impact those words had on me. I remember them resonating someplace deep within the parts of me I never spoke about. I remember thinking, I have father wounds.
My parents divorced when I was a baby. They met and married long enough to have me, yet I was too little to comprehend the lasting impact growing up without my father would have on my life.
What I know now but didn’t know then is that acknowledging my father wound was just the beginning of a long healing journey. I had no idea that I would begin to discover all of the ways that wound impacted every area of my life. Soon, I realized the two-word phrase “father wound” is plural instead of singular.
Sometimes, a woman incurs more than one wound from her father. She may incur many. Sometimes, fathers knowingly and unknowingly inflict pain on the hearts of their daughters. In turn, father-wounded daughters may grow into father-wounded women.
This was the case for me. I stumbled around for many years looking for answers in the pages of scriptures, in the chapters of books, in the chairs of counselors, and in the pews of preachers. I was searching desperately, longing for healing that would bring solace. That search led me to discover what father wounds are and how they can impact women.
The two-word phrase I stumbled upon refers to a physical, emotional, or mental injury that was intentionally or unintentionally caused by a father. This injury may result from divorce, abandonment, abuse, incarceration, addictions, pre-mature death, or a physically present but emotionally absent father. Although father wounds can occur at different times in a woman’s life, if she is unable to heal, these wounds can continue to impact her for a lifetime.
