Scars

Hannah didn't come out the other side of her journey without scars. Yes, the plastic surgeon told us how to treat them over the next year to minimize their appearance, but they will always be there. 

This isn't the first time I have been through trauma in my life. I have been to some deep dark places. I once thought, "I am going to have some deep scars from this" as I went through deep emotional pain. 

In order to have a scar though, you have to heal. In Hannah's case- her body has already knit itself back together from the surgeries that she had. Likewise, emotional scars also indicate that healing has taken place. They do remind us that there was a healing process that you had to go through to get there though. 

In Hannah's tiny body- they had to break her jaw before they could put her little body back together correctly so that she could breath and feed.  Sometimes this is the case with emotional healing as well. You have to go back through those horrible things that you went through. You have to break them down, break them apart and rebuild- so you can go on in life in a healthy way. 

I talked to a surgeon once. I asked him about scars. He told me that scars are places where the body has healed itself back together. Scars are stronger than the surrounding areas that have not experienced trauma. If you are injured again in that area,it is unlikely that the scar will fail because of it's strength. 

You read that right. The work of healing makes that area stronger. Less likely to fail. 

So, if you have emotional pain that lingers in your life, I encourage you to do the hard work to grow toward healing. I encourage you to seek biblical council and walk with God through the process. I did. It wasn't easy- but God has and continues to use the process, healing and scars to his glory.