Angela Nazworth
About the Author

Angela Nazworth is a shame-fighting storyteller who writes mostly about the beauty of grace, faith, friendship, vulnerability and community. She is a wife and a mother of two. Angela's also an encourager, a lover of good books, coffee, girl's night out, sunshine, and waterfalls. In the 15 years since she...

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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Comments

  1. Angela,
    I can relate to your analogy, and yes, people do bump up against my scar(s) and it still hurts. I am a very emotional and sensitive person. I was chided for it as a child and told time and time again not to wear my heart on my sleeve. My husband is wonderful in encouraging me and telling me he loves me just how God made me. He honors the sensitive side of me. Others, however, will use it to their advantage. They use it as their invitation to walk over me like a doormat and say and do whatever they want. I’m easily hurt by things that would simply run off others’ backs. The way I am makes me compassionate, yet it makes it hard to do life sometimes with all its hardness and insults. Thanks for a very thought provoking post and allowing me to lay my hurt down.
    Blessings,
    Bev

    • Thank you so much for sharing, Bev. I love that your husband HONORs your tender heart and sees it as the gift that it is.

    • Bev,
      I’m right there with you. I, too, wear my heart on my sleeves. Very sensitive. God has seen fit to give us both great understanding husbands who love us for who we are. May God continue to bless you and your family.
      Blessings 🙂

    • Bev, thank you for a post that my heart echos. It is hard to live in a hard world that brushes our wounds. It is wonderful how your husband encourages you to be as the Lord made you. May you be so greatly blessed today in your healing.

  2. Love, Love, Love your sentence, “Can one be truly whole without first being broken.”

    Beautiful. Sharing this post. xoxo

  3. Beautiful post. I was shedding a few tears on my drive in to work this morning, praising God that through brokenness, a loved one is becoming whole. When the pain first hit, we found it hard to praise…but now seeing how He’s mending and making things stronger and better, we are humbled by His healing power and touch. It’s quite the process and I couldn’t agree more with your statement; a life cannot truly be whole without first being broken.

    • Praising God for the healing that is taking place in your friend’s life!

  4. Thank you for your healing words. The betrayal by my husband and the divorce has left my heart so broken and shattered.
    Has this brought me closer to our Lord? Yes indeed. I feel his love thru devotions like yours, friends and the beauty of everyday miracles.
    But I can’t deny the utter pain I feel … Or the heartbreak of how our family has been ripped apart.
    I cling to the words
    “The Lord heals the broken hearted”
    God Bless

    • Deb,
      Prayers going out to you and your family. May God continue to bring healing to your soul! I pray you sense God always with you.
      Blessings 🙂

  5. Angela, thanks for the post. This message was just what I needed. I love this statement “Sometimes I pray long and hard; sometimes I can only whisper Jesus’ name.” Right now I am dealing with emotional scars that have developed as a result of marital & family issues. Whenever I think that the wound has healed, something else comes along & lets me know that it has never healed. Because it hasn’t healed, I keep cleaning it up & applying a bandaid. Good for a little while, but it doesn’t last. So, now when I whisper Jesus’ name, I can hear Him say “I’ve got you.”

  6. I cry as I read this. At 48 God’s call to deeper trust crashed into the secret scars of childhood abuse from as early as I can remember that lasted until age 11 when my parent’s gave me away. I have struggled as much with the memories themselves as I have with the aversion to remembering and facing the lies I’ve allowed to guide my whole life. This continues to be a very long and painful journey two years later. Each new layer seems so much harder then the last and I wonder if I’ll ever feel sane again. A hard lonely journey because the internal pain, the “memory pain” is so incongruent with the outward signs of my life. To those who look at me, the outward pieces of my life appear wonderful. They are. As more painful memories have come into a horrifyingly clearer focus these last couple of weeks making even getting out of bed feel like climbing Mt. Everest, I have beg God to allow me to quit this journey. I have also wished He would simply end my life as I can’t see how this comes to any good. I do want to be clear – I am not sucidal…I just wish for this pain to be over and as it seems to taking forever without good things so far I wonder if it will go on the rest of my life. These words today remind me that some scars will always hurt when “touch” in specific ways. Even so there are always ways of beauty around the pain. Thank you for writing these words for release today.

    • Dear Amanda,
      While I can’t say I understand exactly how you feel, I too begged God to take me home because I just couldn’t handle the emotional pain anymore. That was 20 years ago, the night after I was assaulted, having experienced something similar as a child. I now thank him for not answering my plea for he knew there was so much more he had planned for me. I pray our loving God of grace and hope continues to comfort you, strengthen you and remind you that his love for you is unconditional. So many will fail us in this life but God will never leave or abandon us. You are so loved! Pray when it’s hardest to pray and hold tight to our Lord and Savior.

    • Sweet Amanda,

      You are Jesus-made-brave. Thank you for sharing your heart with me. I do promise to pray for you. I know that pain of feeling unwanted, unloved and unworthy. Please know that you are none of those labels. You are beautiful and necessary and needed and valued. I will be praying that God continues to heal your hearts and repair those memories. For me, I have found much hope through therapy with a Christian Trauma Specialist. Much love to you.

      • Thank you so much. I am amazed often at how God times these posts to speak life-giving words at just the right time, seemingly just for me. Thank you.

    • Amanda,
      Praying for you sweet sister! God will heal the pain and bring you closer to Him!!

    • Amanda, I pray that the Lord enfolds you in His tender arms today. I am with you as I am in the same journey. Sweet sister, don’t give up in this place in your journey for the Lord will bring such good out of it. I have experienced His healing grace when the pain was unbearable and I pleaded for release, His mighty arms giving strength to endure. You are loved beyond measure; keep your eyes fixed on Him when the waves crash in. He will bring you through. May He comfort and lift you up, carrying you in the pain through to a place of peace. Praying for you, dear sister

  7. The part about my husband sighing with frustration when I get something wrong hit a chord. I’d love prayer for health in my family relationships.

    • Yes! When little things cause deep hurt, I know that a tender place has been touched for sure. Thank you for sharing.

  8. Angela, truly a beautiful post. I loved your words about to know wholeness we first have to know brokenness. Such truth here. After I had ACL reconstruction surgery in February the surgeon and my PT’s told me to rub around the scars from the surgery, or else the scar tissue could attach to the bone. I’d never thought about the underside of incisions before. Scar tissue is so often invisible but it is very present.

    I’ve had people bump up against my scars in ways that left me in tears. God is healing those broken areas in my life. He’s also using those scars to give me a better view of others—more of an ability to view other broken people through His eyes and with His compassion. Those scars on our hearts aren’t wasted, if we let God conform us into the image of Jesus.

    Loved your post today!

  9. Angela,
    Thank-you from the bottom of my heart for your post. I’m sorry for the pain you’ve been through.

    A few years before my parents were gone my yellow lab passed away in my daughter’s and my arms. All of our hearts shattered, he had brought us all so much love and joy. Every Spring since a little yellow finch appeared in our front window like the Lord sent him directly to us. Yesterday after we read Charlotte’s Web my son and I saw something hit the window. We rushed out but unfortunately it was a little yellow finch. We tried to make the best of it and ended up giving him a little service with my son saying a few precious words. I had saved some Marigold seeds from a Children’s Hospice with the caption “Celebrate Living In The Moment” that we planted together and set near the little finch. It felt as if this was the Lord’s way of helping us to let go.

    Blessings to all,
    My prayers are with you for healing
    Penny

  10. Angela, Thankyou for your deep words! I have been going a lonely road of healing from a past terrible core wound that affected my whole life! I have been timid because of it and easily
    threatened! It has taken years to heal and get over it! Maybe you never totally do?! I even shyed away from going to church…….But I am a believer! I Pray diligently to the Lord every
    day! THe Lord has been kind to me and works with me daily…….fortunately I found a wonderful therapist to work with me weekly! God bless her! Her kindness and listening to me cry again and again has been healing…….sometimes we need to cry…….anyway….it has
    taken a long time, years, but Ive worked thru alot of stuff! Please keep me in your prayers or
    anyone else’s! I could sure use them! Thanks for sharing and caring! Love in Christ, Lauren

  11. I totally get this, I pray the Lord will remove scar tissue. He is the most precise of all surgeons. Especially, when it’s a matter of the heart. Sometimes, people are just ignorant, maybe indifferent, maybe they don’t see us with any problems and secretly envy us. I had someone say she was jealous of me, she had no idea what I was going through. I will be there for her when she does go through her grief. You do just have to whisper His name.

  12. My first husband left me 28 years ago for someone. I remarried 8 years ago to the most wonderful man I know. But I am recognizing that though healing was hard fought for and won through Christ, the scars are there and on occasion there is an ache. Wouldn’t trade this life for that in a million years, but never-the-less, still there. Thanks for this post. ♥

  13. Sometimes I feel like just one big scar or that so many of them are being pressed at once!

  14. Please pray for me. I can completely relate to this. My mom died when I was 7, my dad died when I was 39, my husband died two years ago. I also deal with anxiety and obsessions/compulsions/grief. I’ve been praying that God would bring the right man into my life but lately I think I need to pray that the Holy Spirit will make me bold and courageous and unafraid. I ask the Holy Spirit to heal all my inner wounds. I pray that I can learn to make myself happy and not depend on others to do it and that I can take care of myself and be independent. Thank you for your prayers.

    • Therese,
      Prayers for God to help heal your anxiety, OCD & grief. May the Holy Spirit touch you and make you unafraid. I pray for God to send strength, contentment and bless you with peace.
      Blessings 🙂

  15. Thanks for the post! Very true that we have some hurts that we may get past, but never really get over. Even small things can trigger our defense mechanisms and then watch out! As with so many other women who have commented below, I have my own hurt that has slowly become worn down to the point that I no longer think about it daily, weekly, or monthly, but it’s still there, a small ache deep inside. I have often wondered why Jesus does not take it away altogether – but you’re right, perhaps it is making me a whole person. Thanks for sharing!

  16. Angela,

    I have low self esteem and am very easily hurt. My emotions are on my sleeve always. Often times I will hear or think things that are wrong (lies). The lies hurt deep. God blessed me with a super great hubby who loves me for me. He always tells me how much he loves me. I find myself praying a lot these days. Like you it may be long and hard or it may be a simple whisper for help.
    Thank you for a great inspiring post.
    Blessings 🙂

  17. Angela, I praise the Lord for this tender and heart filled post. Thank you for your words that bring hope in the healing. I am sorry that you have endured the pain you have. The Lord Jesus is breaking down my scars, gently leading me to the wholeness that comes from the broken, how He brings such goodness out of these places as we trust in Him. How I love how you said that wholeness only comes out of brokenness. It helps me to see more clearly the blessing in the suffering. May each of us be held in His strong and loving arms today as we move along the healing journey.

  18. Hello!! I believe God spoke through you to me with this post today. As a child my father instilled in my mind over and over 3 terrible hurtful words. He called me a Mute, a Zero, and a Nothing. As an adult I have worked so so hard at trying to feel heard, validated, and like a SOMEBODY. I give to others all that I wish I could have received so they can feel like they’re somebody, making sure I never treat them like I was treated. But I still can feel ignored or forgotten about by others and it puts me right back into that feeling like
    A nothing again. These scars are deep and at 50 I’m still not heeled completely. Thank you for letting me know one day these scars are seen and one day will be redeemed. I’ll be hanging that slogan (prayer) we’re I can see it!!

  19. Thank you, Angela for your words. I went onto incourage’s Instagram today seeking Truth and Encouragement from the Lord. My husband and I have been trying and hoping to have a baby for a while, which is difficult in of itself. But lately Satan has been getting at a sensitive spot in my heart with these words, “you are a failure.” If you would pray with me as I wrestle with this lie, I would be so appreciative! Thank you again!

  20. I needed this today after a wound I thought had been healed was split wide open. Thank you for sharing.

  21. Please pray over my marriage, and protection and truth over it. Also, please pray for healing on a health issue that has me wounded physically. Please pray for being able to conceive a healthy baby, as the almost year long struggle has me wounded emotionally.