It's All About Healing

How A Pastor’s Daughter Chose Safety, Sought God, and Rebuilt Her Life, with Angela Chambers: Episode 373

• Robin Black

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A single question can pry open a life you’ve been holding together with quiet endurance. When Angela Chambers’ father asked, “How long are you going to do this?” it wasn’t judgment—it was a lifeline. From there, she began the hard, holy work of leaving a 28-year marriage marked by spiritual, financial, and physical abuse, while holding onto faith, dignity, and a fierce desire to protect her family. What follows is a story of preparation, humility, and the kind of restoration that arrives in surprising places.

We walk through the practicalities of getting safe: changing paperwork, opening accounts, documenting finances, and seeking counsel from pastors and therapists. Angela is honest about the tension between honoring marriage and refusing harm; she’s not advocating easy exits, but she is clear that God does not require anyone to stay where abuse is the norm. With no paycheck and bills due, she started cleaning houses “for a month or two,” which turned into seven years. That season became her seminary. Service turned sacred as she learned to see mops and mirrors as tools of ministry, wrote a poem called “Made In His Image,” and watched families regain time because their homes were cared for.

Then came a tender sign on a Gulf Shores jetty: after a storm, the beach was littered with perfect shells. In prayer, Angela sensed a promise—“I will restore you.” The shells had been thrashed by waves and arrived whole; so would she. That vision reshaped her obedience, even when it meant awkward apologies to her ex. Step by step, she rebuilt identity, dropped the mask, stayed rooted in worship, and let counseling do its slow, steady work. Now, as a speaker and teacher, she reaches women with a message that blends safety planning, spiritual courage, and real-world wisdom: you will be restored, you are being restored, and you will continue to be restored.

If this conversation meets you in the storm, let it also point you toward shore. Subscribe, share with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review to help others find these stories of healing and hope.

To reach Angela Chambers:   - Website: AngelaChambers.org
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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome back, listeners. I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. We have a very special guest with us today, Miss Angela Chambers. She's going to speak to us today about how not to lose yourself when staying feels right, but she also walked away from a 28-year marriage. Ms. Angela, how are you today?

SPEAKER_01:

I am great, Robin. Thank you for inviting me. It is going to be a great conversation with you today.

SPEAKER_00:

No problem. So I'm definitely ready to hear a little bit of your story and walking away and how this made you feel.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, it was a very hard decision to do, even though in the marriage we had had trouble along the way. It didn't just start, you know, I should have seen some red flags and things, but we had a lot of good years too. We were a military family. We had three daughters. And but there were things that just kept recurring that, you know, were not good in a marriage. It was toxic. There was abuse, there was spiritual abuse, financial abuse out the wazoo. I mean, good night, the spiritual, I mean, the financial abuse and physical abuse. It was hard. And as a Christian, I wanted to stay. I wanted it to work. I wanted my heavenly father to know that I was trying. I wanted my parents. My daddy was a Baptist minister, and I wanted to honor my parents. I didn't want my children to come from a broken family. And so I tried and I wanted to stay. But things just kept getting worse. He did serve two tours in the Gulf. And so that that compounded a lot of issues that we already had, but it's not an excuse for them either. And so it was a hard, hard situation. I was on staff at a church. I was a children's pastor and I hid. I wore a mask. And people did not know what was going on at home. I didn't tell my parents what was going on at home. And you know, wearing a mask is very exhausting. It's very exhausting to pretend. You know, actors that play in movies or in roles and plays, it's a lot of work. Yeah. And it's exhausting to exhausting.

SPEAKER_00:

I was just curious to say that that has to be exhausting. It's exhausting.

SPEAKER_01:

You have to, you know, walk on pins and needles at home and do the right thing. And it was hard. Yeah. And so I one day I was telling my daddy about something that had gone on. And he looked at me and he said, Baby, how long are you going to do this? And that was my release. I believe God used my daddy at that moment. I didn't tell my daddy that at the time, but God used that statement to let me go and release me from that marriage. God does not want us to stay where we are mistreated, where everything is not that it's just hard and I can't do this, and you're whining about it. I'm talking about abuse in many ways. When he says he hates divorce, he hates it. He does, yes. It busts up families, it ruins you. You are so emotionally wrong. There's so many levels that you have no idea until you were there. That's why he says he hates it. But he doesn't tell you either to stay where you, you know, picking yourself up off the floor. That's not that's not what it's about.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So my daddy released me.

SPEAKER_00:

And and I know a lot of Christians, they they question that a lot. So, what can you tell us a little bit about divorce being a Christian?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, you know, I believe one, and you need to go into it. And my dad, my daddy, he said some things to me in the beginning. Yeah. That's, you know, I why don't you think about this? Why don't you really examine this? Why don't you, you know, but ultimately God, God, our Heavenly Father, gives us free will.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And He He is He lets us make our decisions. You know, you can, you know, play with fire if you want to.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

As a Christian, we are to honor God and to serve God and to pray and get His wisdom. And sometimes we don't do that. Sometimes we walk into things that we shouldn't do. And I I believe too, I don't believe we should bail. I I'm not an advocate for saying, hey, if you don't like where you are in your marriage, walk away. Not at all. That's that's one of the reasons I stayed 28 years because I wanted to make it work. I wanted it to work out. I wanted my family to be intact. And I tried and I did things. I was in marriage counseling.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I did marriage things and I was in a counseling program and like learning to be a counselor. And I went to the the head of that and I said, Can I be in counseling and be in counseling at the same time? He's like, sure. Because I needed it. Yeah. I needed help. And I was trying to figure all this out. And you have to seek we can't do stuff on our own. We can't. We have to have God with us. So I'm not an advocate because I am, you know, hey, if you're if you're unhappy in your marriage, bail. Not at all. Yeah. But if you are being abused in any type of way verbally, I'm telling you, words hurt. Yes. Whoever said sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt. Absolutely. Yes. It hurts. And I would, you know, and have this in my ear. Little Miss Church Girl, you'll never walk out. You'll never leave me. Little Miss Church Girl, you'll be embarrassed. You're not going to do you'd never do this. And then the name calling and the the financial abuse and the physical abuse and the all that. I mean, God does not intend for us to be under that weight. Yeah. And so I did seek counsel from pastors, from counselors. I was in marriage counseling and I went by myself.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And so I think you should try. I think you should try very hard. I think you should do everything you can to work it out. But if you're not being taken care of, seek help.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Seek help. I like that because I I got divorced myself 10 years ago. And I know before we started this podcast earlier, you had stated that you did your preparation, right? So, as women, especially, what does that consist of? When you said I did my preparation when I knew I was gonna leave, kind of like preparing for that.

SPEAKER_01:

Like, what would you suggest? When when my daddy said, How long are you gonna do this? I thought, not anymore after tonight, you know. Yeah, I I changed some paperwork that I needed to have changed. I went to the bank. Now we had been in such financial ruin at this time, he had not worked in 18 months. He had stomach cancer, it was not gonna take his life, but he had to do chemo and all these things. So we were so we were nine months behind on our rent. Yeah, and I know the only reason that we got to stay in our place is because the man we were renting from at the time, I went to church with his mama. Yeah, and I know that God allowed her to say something to him. I nobody ever said anything, but who lets you be nine months behind on your rent?

SPEAKER_00:

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And then that adds up to be a lot of money. Yeah, it does. And so my ex-husband was military and he was retiring, and he also was now he had a lot of disability from the military, plus now he had the cancer. So I stayed and I did all the paperwork previo prior to this day to get him the benefits that he deserved. And so we had a little nest egg in there, but I had a daughter that was about to get married, so I went to the bank, I did some paperwork changes, I got my own bank account. I didn't tell anybody what I was about to do. Yeah, I no one, no one knew. And I just did X, Y, and Z of making sure when I could walk out the door that I wasn't just now I didn't have anywhere to live, but I had parents and I had in-laws who understood, who knew where I was. And so, but I just I I was talking to the Lord, I was prayed up, I went, I did banks and some paperwork and some things like this just in preparation. Now there was so much not done, but I couldn't do some of it, a lot of it, until I actually walked out the door.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, okay, so it's best to definitely kind of move inside or trying to yes, yeah. That that can be hard and scary at the same time. So it's definitely good to seek that, seek counsel from others, but also have that that counsel with God as well. Yeah, seek Him before you make any decision. Absolutely, definitely go to God first, and then so you before also you were speaking a little bit about what you did for seven years. Tell us, tell the listeners a little bit about where he led you to after that, made that decision.

SPEAKER_01:

So when I left, I did not have a job at the time because, like I said, he had cancer. I was taking him to the doctor, he would have sometimes eight to 12 appointments a month. He had other issues too. But so I had been a children's pastor for about 14 years prior to that, not working in the last year and a half. So I didn't have a job. I owned my car, it was paid for, that's all I had. When I walked out the door, personal belongings, I didn't take anything out of the house. And I knew I had I had to make some money. And so I I thought, okay, maybe I can clean some houses, you know, because people knew me, they knew, pardon me, they knew my reputation. So I began to advertise to people. Hey, if you know somebody who needs their house cleaned, uh, let them know about me. I advertise on Facebook, you know, just my page, hey, somebody needs their house cleaned. That was not what I wanted to do. But I had to have I had to have gas money today. Yeah, I had to buy, you know, something to eat today. And when you clean houses, people pay you today when you do that work. And so I couldn't wait two weeks on a paycheck. I couldn't, I couldn't do that. And I had some skills, I had done some a few secular jobs, but you know, it had been in the church. And I had had some church hurt. And when I got separated, my pastor sat me down. I wasn't allowed to be on the praise team. I couldn't teach children's churches. So some church, some churches, little c have a stigma about divorce. Uh, you know, it it when I was a child growing up, that was like the unpardonable sin. And I'm thinking, are you kidding me? People, I mean, people they taught this. They was like, don't get divorced. I mean, you could you could kill somebody, you could do drugs, you could run around your wife, but by golly, don't you get divorced. Yeah, and and it kind of it kind of came to light in my life. And I thought, what in the world? Where have we come? And so I started cleaning houses, and I thought, you know, I'll do this for a month or two, so until I get on my feet, and you know, some things happen. And it just kind of kept going. And it kind of kept going. I wasn't getting any work. And I want you to know, God had me clean houses for seven years. Seven. And I had lots of heated discussions with him on this. Yeah. I mean, I would just be mad about it, you know. I was it now was flexible, it did allow me flexibility, and my parents were aging, and you know, it gave me time with them to help. And I had grandchildren and I could help, but this this isn't what I planned to do. Yeah. So one day I got real ticked off with the Lord. And I my my little great niece, I was cleaning their house and she called me a maid. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

A maid?

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Nobody called me a maid before, and I thought, and but I wasn't unkind to her. And I was like, Well, I'm so glad I get to come and I see you every week. And I but I went home and I mean, I was ranting and raving and standing up. Do you see me down here? God, do you even know what I'm going through? And why do you make me do this? And I was just just thrusting in a you know, ranting raving. And he said, Yeah, I see you because you're doing all this. I see you all right. Yeah. He said, Angela, I I want you to know that you're being made in my image. I'm refining you. I said, Lord, that's not funny. I heard what you said. You said made in your image, and I was just kind of mocking him, you know. That's not funny. And he sent me to my computer, straight to my computer. And I sat down and I wrote this poem because he was letting me know, Angela, do the job I have for you to do. It's not random, it is my work in your life. And I need you to, I need you to catch on to this. And you know what? It's like the children of Israel, the sooner we catch on, the the less miles we're gonna have to travel. But you know, sometimes we just don't catch on to that. So it's called made in his image, M-A-I-D. Buckets, mops, brooms, and rags, laundry, dishes, and trash by the bags, vacuum dusting, soap scum, and more. Don't forget to dust over the door, wash all the windows, reach high and bend low. So much to do, so don't be slow. Scrub all the toilets, wash every tub, shine every mirror, use elbow grease, rub, change all the bed sheets, toss down the chute, swoop under the floor. What I find is a hoot. Pick up all the toys and put them away. Hurry, hurry, can't stay here all day. I had to chuckle when I read the text that came to me and said, I need for you to come and paint. I replied, LOL, I can't. My painting skills are none at all. I don't even paint my wall. Lord, I thank you for my job each day, for there are bills that I must pay. But this isn't how I see myself. Just a maid dusting a shelf. You see, I want to be in ministry, you know, seeing others as you see. Maybe a speaker or children's pastor or such. But here I am up to my elbows in muck. What's that, Lord? This is ministry, helping others with their need by dusting and mopping their dirty floors. They have time with their family when they come through the door. But helping they, that one old soul for me that day was your goal. Going to the store to buy food for someone, you knew she was sick and needed it done. Helping with children and wiping their noses and rocking to sleep while the little one dozes, hanging up curtains to make her room bright. The others didn't let in much light. Taking one to the doctor to get a form signed. You asked me to do it because it was kind. I remember the lady so feeble, so sweet, you whispered in my ear, just wash my feet. So doing these things, I'm becoming like you. This is the job you want me to do. Now I see, as I continue my pilgrimage, I am being made in your image. So that was a little humbling right there.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I love that. But what stuck out most to me was just doing for others is ministry, and that is just so profound. Just like, and what did you say about about beaches and the seashells?

SPEAKER_01:

So oh, the beach is my most favorite place uh on this earth. And and you know, in the Bible it says, I go to prepare a place for you. Mine's gonna be a beach house, it's just it's gonna be by the crystal sea, that's where I'm going. So I I I feel like God created it just for me and the rest of y'all get to enjoy it. So you're welcome, you're welcome. But it is where I connect the most with God. Anytime I go, I just um his presence is just there with me, and I just connect with him. And so just two months after I separated, I was on a beach trip with some friends, and I was praying. Oh, I was praying. I was praying because I was raw. I I could just, I could cry at the drop of a hat. I was really trying to find myself again. I'd been, you know, married for 28 years. Now I was living alone, and life was so different for me. And I was out doing my morning quiet time, out on the jetties. I was at Gulf Shores, Alabama, and there's these jetties, these rock formations that goes long way out into the water. I was there and I was praying, and I was, I mean, gut-wrenching, crying out to God, hear me, show me, feel me, be with me, don't leave me. And what am I going to do? Where is my life headed? I I need to hear from you. And I was just drenched with tears. And so we, this was my third day there, and I'm a shell collector. I uh my office here where I'm sitting is just there's thousands of shells. And on this trip, there had been a storm just days before. And I prayed to the Lord, I said, uh-uh, this is beach time now, Lord. You gotta clear these shores up and let me go. And and he answered so beautifully. And I was finding these shells like like you'd get in a souvenir shop. Now I'm not gonna buy one, I'm gonna, I'm gonna get my own. But I mean, these were prize shells.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I was looking around, like, did y'all not see that shell y'all just walked by? You did you just leave it for me or what? You didn't even see it. I was gathering them and I was getting them. So this day I thought, okay, what what prize am I gonna find today? It's just like a handcrafted souvenir from my father, you know? And I was walking out and uh I wasn't finding those big, beautiful shells that day. So I stepped on out into the water and I was looking, and then I want you to know, Robin, time stopped for me. I call it an encounter with God. It was just me and God. I wasn't aware of the warmth of the sunshine, of the birds, of the roar of the waves, of children playing around me. It was just me and God. And he said, Angela, I see you. I hear you, I know you. And I wanted you to find these shells as a tangible reminder to hold in your hand about this day. I want you to know you're going to be restored. I will restore you. He said, These shells came from that storm last week that you prayed away. He said, but they came from a long distance. And he said they tossed and they turned and they were in turbulent waters, and it was thundering and it was lightning, and the waves were just roaring and roaring. He said, but they made it, they made it to shore, and now you have them. He said, I need you to know you're going to make it, you will be restored, and just like these shells, you will be whole and unique and beautiful and restored. These shells were in perfect shape. They were not, you know, there's shells in the sea, but they're not busted and broken.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I have them. And and it's such a beautiful thing that God sees us like that. Yeah. And and I and I wanted so many answers, but he just said, let's let's just take this today at a time. And I ran back to where I had my little area set up at the beach and I had my journal, and I wrote this most beautiful experience down. I didn't want to forget any detail about it. And then I wrote the word restored in the sand with my finger. I put a little group of shells, and that picture is here, and I see it every day, multiple, multiple times. And God reminds me, I'm restoring you, I'm restoring you, and restoring you. It is not an overnight experience. Restoration is you will be restored, you are being restored, and you will continue to be restored. And there's so many areas, and that was part this cleaning for seven years was part of my restoration. You know, it was people, people paid me to clean their homes. Many of them were Christians, and they prayed with me and for me. They let me cry. They they blessed me at Christmas or my birthday with extra. They gave me food out of the refrigerator because they knew I was just having the hardest time. I mean, you know, I didn't have a washer and dryer at the time. I I didn't have many basic things. I couldn't afford it.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, and so God gave me this. He gave me flexibility in it too for babies, grandbabies, and my parents, and but he was refining me. He was letting me find myself. He was pouring himself into me and rubbing off the rough edges and helping me. So, but I was helping people too. And he let me see that by writing this poem. Because this one lady, oh my word, the one where I talked to where I had to bathe her that day. Listen, that is not in the description of cleaning somebody's house. Yeah. I don't get paid enough to bathe somebody. Yeah. This little lady, she would only give me$25 to clean her house. And when she interviewed me, I said, ma'am, I'm sorry, but I can't clean your house for just$25. Right. And then this was years ago, but still. And she said, Yes, I need you to clean my house. She was 93. And she said, it's going to be$25. And I tried to tell her again. And then the Lord just said, do it. You know, he you ain't got any money anyway. You might as well take the$25. So I agreed to do it. And I would grumble and I would complain. And one day I was dusting and I was telling the Lord, can't you tell her to pay me more? I mean, you know, and I was and I heard her call my name from the bathroom.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And I went, mm-mm. I said, I ain't going in there. That ain't my mama. I said, that's my mama. I'd go help her out. That ain't my mama. Yeah. I heard her call my name again and I was like, I mean, I'm a decent person, you know. I went in there and she had slumped against the wall. And I turned the water off and I got out of town. I wrapped it around her and I sat her down in the toilet. And this is a tea Nazi little bitty bathroom. Yeah. And I was patting her dry and I was going, Lord, I don't know what you're doing here, but I don't appreciate it at all. Yeah. Get me out of here. And she was just, I guess her sugar had dropped or something, you know, and she was, and she said, Can you dry my feet really well? I don't ever get my feet dry good enough. And I was like, God, for real, this ain't funny. Yeah. And so I was doing all that. And while I was on, I was on my knees in this bathroom, sitting with this little naked 93-year-old woman that wasn't my mama, patting her off, drying between her toes. And God said, I want I want to tell you something. And I said, This ain't the time. Yeah. And he said, There was a time when your ex-husband asked you to cut his toenails when he was sick, and you refused because you didn't like him. I said, Would you mind this ain't it? I am trying to take care of this little old lady who's not my mama. And why are you bringing this up? He said, I want you to call him and ask him to forgive you. I said, What? What does that have to do with this? Yeah. He said, I want you to do it. I said, I ain't doing it. Yeah. He said, we'll see. And I'm like, I mean, I was just like in two worlds at this time, you know, and I'm I'm getting hurt done. So I did I have to dress her, you know, and getting on her little pantyho, her little knee-high pantyhose and all this stuff. Then I have to finish cleaning the house.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And my mind is just, I do not know what happened here today, God. But I got my car and I began to have another one of these conversations with him. He said, I want you to call him. And I'm like, that this has nothing. I said, he's not gonna remember. I didn't remember.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

And by the way, I don't enjoy talking to him anymore. You know, this this isn't something I do is call him up.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I waited for two weeks. And he called me. He would call me 20 times a day, and I I wouldn't pick up, not every day, but um, I we were still separated. I stayed separated for almost two years trying to see if things would work out, but we didn't, I didn't want to talk to him. And he called me one night and he was just chewing me out about something. He was fussing and a cussing and just carrying on. And I could tell the conversation was kind of winded down. I said, I need to tell you something. And I was just gritting my teeth. I didn't want to do it. And I said, And I tried to begin to tell the story. He said, get on with it. What are you talking about? And he didn't, you know, and I said, Well, the Lord reminded me that there was a time when you were sick and you needed your toenails cut, yeah, and I refused and wouldn't do it, and I need you to forgive me. He said, Sure, whatever, okay. Click. Yeah. I was like, okay, gone. Check, check, check. I did it. Yeah. I said, would you mind telling me what this was about? He said, Angela, you know this restoring thing we're doing? He said, You're gonna be in ministry again. I need to know that you hear my voice. It doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter what I tell you. I need to know you're hearing my voice. Just obey.

SPEAKER_02:

Amen.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I said, okay. And I had to do that two more times with him. I had to apologize and ask him to forgive me about stupid, stupid stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But I didn't wait two weeks. I got to it a little quicker because I want to be following God. I want to be in line with him. I want to be so in tune with him that I hear his voice, even on the tiny little bathroom floor on my knees, drawing a little old lady off. Yeah. I want to hear from the Lord. And so ministry is important, but it showed me ministry to everybody is important. Yeah. Even people you don't like, even people you can't stand, even people you have a past with. God might send somebody my way that is less than desirable, and I have to hear his voice.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. And and I I agree with that because there are so many times that we're in relationships, whether you're male or female, and you just keep thinking, how can I forgive this person or how can I be nice to this person that was so mean to me, so rude to me. But I truly, truly feel that God is saying that those are the people who need ministry the most, right? Because they need to hear his voice, right? They're just in this dark place where they just want others to be. They want to bring others to that dark place, and they're needing our light. And that's also a sign why we cross paths with these people, right? Right.

SPEAKER_01:

And that's the part to hear that from somebody who you have hurt. Yeah, that's gotta mean something, hopefully. You know, to show the light of Jesus.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

I mean, I was gritting my teeth. I was I wasn't saying it real lovingly the first time.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But like you said, you were still there for him. So that proves your devotion as well. So is it's just it's amazing how God uses us, whether we like it or dislike it. It's like he'll bring us that understanding eventually. And then I love how you said he instantly brought you back to that instant replay, right? He instantly while you were drawing her off, he brought he brought you back to hey, I need you to go back and make amends, yes, in a sense. And it is just like why we do the things we don't we don't know, but it's about that obedience, whether it's about obedience or not, it's that obedience. I love that.

SPEAKER_01:

And I think that when we obey, I uh one of my pastors used to say, obedience brings blessing. And when he knows he can trust us, then he knew he could trust me in ministry again. You know, he knew I was I was healing and I was doing those things, you know, because you can't share what you don't know and what you don't experience and where you're where you're not honest with God, you can't tell that to somebody else if you haven't experienced it yourself.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, absolutely. And then earlier you said losing yourself. What happened there? What is your advice on losing yourself in certain situations?

SPEAKER_01:

So I I was on church staff and married, had kids at the time of I had two grandbabies, but you when you're in a a vulnerable, abusive, hard situation, you wear a mask, yeah, and you pretend and you smile to the world and you stand up and you teach your lessons and you uh minister to people. And I was in a counseling training, and I was doing all these things yet behind the doors, it was all different. And you tend to not know who you are anymore. You are things for different people, but when you are mistreated and when you go through these things, but yet you try and you you you you're won't wanting it to work or you're wanting it to go the right direction and you can't, it's it's just like little pieces of yourself begin to chip off and chip away. And you are a shell of who you want to be or used to be. And I'm a very bubbly, outgoing person, but then you you start to retreat and you start to hide and you wear that mask. And you know, like when someone who is an actor, an actress, or is in plays and they have to perform and they they they have to show up day after they have to do the take over and over and over and over and over, it's exhausting. Yeah, it's depleting, and that's the way it is when you live pretending and you live in a mask. So when I walked out the door, I was by myself. Yeah, and I thought, okay, now, Ang, who are you? You are, you know, we wear a lot of labels, and so now the rebuilding process, you have to find I am a child of God, yeah, I am a daughter of the king, I am worthy, I am adored, I am loved. Maybe not by the person I was with, but I have a heavenly father, and you have to start, you have to tell yourself these things, you have to read them in the scripture, and you have to start believing again that you are who God created you to be. Yes, no matter what somebody else says, somebody else did, somebody somebody else whispered in your ear. Yeah, you are who God says you are. So you have to start believing that. You have to start saying it out loud to yourself in the mirror, you have to start practicing it. I've seen this thing, it says where it says, girls, straighten your crown. I mean, you know, we have to we have to pull ourselves back up, and it's a lot of work. Yeah, it's a lot of work, but that's why we need counseling. I went through counseling, I went through divorce care class, I I never walked away from the church. I was hurt, but I didn't walk away. God made me, I had some church hurt in my church, and God didn't let me leave. I didn't leave out of petty reasons. He said, You stay and you do this well. And I was like, Yeah. I stayed in the choir, I stayed in my small group, I stayed in worship attendance. I did those things because God was above and more important than all of this, and I loved him. And so that was therapeutic for me. Not in a way of it's just, you know, when we worship and when you love and when you can let go, you know, this morning in service, and I thought about it later, I I in a certain song, I saw myself singing holy, holy, holy in the heavenlies. And later I went, Whoa, I've never quite, you know, but he's worthy of that. Absolutely. He is whoo! I mean, he is our creator and our sustainer and our restorer and our healer. He's uh so so and the angels cry, holy, holy, holy. And we weren't even singing that song, but in my I had stopped singing at this point, and I I was just seeing myself, and because where I've come from, well, how can we not praise the Lord for what he does in our lives? Yeah, and that's what I want people to know. Don't count God out, yeah. He's got us, he wants to bring us to where he is and to and to heal us. And so I did all those steps of counseling and divorce I had never been divorced before, I didn't know what it meant to be divorced, yeah. And it brings up a lot of stuff in your life you gotta. Yes, it does.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it does. I love that. Oh my goodness. What that is just still such a beautiful, beautiful, powerful story. And I thank you. And you are a very, very strong woman. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, and it and it brought my platform to speak. He called me to speak, so I do that and I share and I help. We're we're not alone. We're not alone this, and it's not a disgrace. My, you know, it happened. And if something happens in your life, use it for the glory of God. Pick up your mantle and march on and use it for God. It says He He works all things together for good to those that are love him according to His purpose. All things, and that's divorce, and that's heartache, and that's you know, you're financially strapped. It's everything. I mean, I have a record of things that God restored back to me. I mean, oh, it was it was a it was a hard, hard, hard time. But God, but God, but God.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, amen. I love hearing that. And so how can the listeners reach you, Ms.

SPEAKER_01:

So I have um a website, it's angelachambers.org. I'm also a registered speaker on women speakers.com. I'm speaking with a tour this year as well. It is unshakeablecourage.com. I'm on Facebook, Angela Heitch Chambers and Restored Ministries. I have two Facebook pages. I teach every Tuesday night live on Facebook. It's called Teaching on Tuesday. So I'm just busy with uh ministering and I would love to come speak and teach at any women's events. I travel all over, I don't just stay close to home. I'm from trustful Alabama, but I go everywhere and um that southern charm comes out, and we like to have a lot of fun and just praise the Lord together and teach that we're more than our circumstances say that we are.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, okay. I love that, and I'm definitely gonna add that in the show notes so anyone that's pleasing to reach out to answer. Oh, I appreciate it. Yes, it's gonna be down there. Other than that, what is one piece of advice that you would like to give the listeners before we go?

SPEAKER_01:

Stay with God. And if you don't know him, if you're listening and you're just searching or wondering, talk to someone. He is so real, he is so real. He's not a fairy tale. The Bible is true, and he can be with you, he can hold your hand, he can hold you in this life, hold you while you cry, but don't walk away. Don't say, Hey, I've been through this. You don't know what I've been through. I may not know what you've been through, but I know what I've been through. And I know that God carries me. It doesn't mean we're not gonna go through hardship or hard times or times where we just feel like we can't pick ourselves up off the floor, but he's with you during that time. Stay with God, stay with him.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you so much. Thank you, Robin. Thank you, no problem. And thank you, listeners again. This was Ms. Angela Chambers. I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. Everyone, stay blessed.