Lyn Peterson interviewed on Woman to Woman show

“You are a masterpiece and God is the master artist. If you give him permission, he will create a work of art from your pain and failure.”

These are the words of Lyn Peterson, author of Royal Birds: God’s Overcoming Daughters.

Lyn delivered her message of hope on Premier Christian Radio’s Woman to Woman Show, in March this year. Speaking candidly to Premier’s Tamala Ceasar, she spoke about her own struggle with shame and an inferiority complex which lasted for decades.

In Royal Birds, Lyn has shared her healing journey and some spiritual principles for emotional healing. She has used the well-known story of the Ugly Duckling who was really a swan as a framework for telling her own personal story, hence the book title.

Lyn, a former journalist and psychology tutor, explained:

“The name of my book, Royal Birds, is a reference to swans. One day back in 2013 I heard the story of the ugly duckling on the radio. The pivotal moment is when the bird sees her own reflection and realises that she is actually a swan and not a duckling at all. She’s seen swans in the past and admired their beauty, but she never realised that she was one of them.

“That really touched me deeply and I realised that God was speaking to me and saying ‘I know you see yourself as an ugly duckling, but I’m teaching you that you’re a swan’ – it was quite a moment somehow.

“Shortly after that, God put it on my heart that he was weeping for his daughters because so many of them were broken and their identities were shattered. I knew I had to share this message about how God sees us with such compassion in our failures.”

The first five chapters of Royal Birds tell Lyn’s personal story. As a teenager, she was badly bullied at school and she also struggled in her relationship with her father. She turned to rock music, alcohol, and amphetamines to blot out her emotional pain. Then later in life, following a divorce in her forties, Lyn was close to giving up on life.

But when she abandoned herself in a pit of despair, God did not let go of her. Instead, he promised to restore her life and revealed her identity as His beloved daughter. He began a deep work of healing her self-concept and restoring her trust.

The later chapters of Lyn’s book suggest a simple framework for understanding the process of emotional healing through faith in Christ. She explains how God taught her to dismantle “the Ugly Duckling Mindset” – a stronghold of wrong thinking that creates emotional distress.

“I believe that God wants to release a lot of women from a sense of shame and guilt. He’s sad when we keep punishing ourselves for past mistakes. We don’t have to be defined by our past experiences.

“Royal Birds is a book about hope and finding healing in the love of God. It’s about renewing our minds with the truth of God’s word, casting off our worn-out, broken identities and embracing the glorious reality of who we are in Christ.”

The Venerable Nick Barker, retired Archdeacon of Auckland in the Diocese of Durham, wrote the foreword for Royal Birds. He said that Lyn had uncovered “vital and life-giving themes” in her work.

“Royal Birds is a book to be worked and prayed with and not just read. It brings to life things that are central to our health and wellbeing as whole people… I pray that as this book is read, and prayed over, and used to reflect upon life, that many will find deep healing and a new wholeness in God.”

Lyn has also launched a website www.royaldaughtersinchrist.com aimed at encouraging other women to find emotional and spiritual healing in Christ. She is developing resources for the site and would like to hear from women with testimonies to share. Lyn can be contacted by email: lyn@royaldaughtersinchrist.com