Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

Why do I envy that old photo of me 27 years ago with long flowing hair and a waistline?  That girl was so afraid, so sick, so sad, so confused about her identity, so insecure.  She longed  for a million hurts of others to be gone. She longed for a strong connection with God.  She was not lost, but she felt very lost.  She couldn't comprehend that she was always in the palm of God's hand.   Acts 17:26 "God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us .  28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being."   He was there with me.   So why let an old pic create a longing for what once was?  Or often a "do-over!" Each season of my life was teaching me to trust, to love, to ask for and receive.  Receive healing physically, emotionally and spiritually.  We all need that.  And from those places, those seasons, gro...

The story behind the story of what God is still doing in my life is in the post titled "The God Who Heals!"  (to read it, click on the label The God Who Heals at the end of this post)  That post is a summary of part of my healing journey.  If you are new to this blog, it is simply a collection of vulnerable moments met by a personal God.  He met me   through songs, friends, being alone, and passages of Scripture .  No matter your story, God wants to bring healing to you through His love for you, His Word, His forgiveness, His acceptance, and His character. As I look back over nearly 10 years, I can see that God was preparing me for not only my own future, but so I could encourage others.  Right now I have several suffering friends.  The same truth from 10 years ago comforts me now, and I hope it will comfort you. I am different now, a testimony to God continually pursuing me.  His grace has lead me to His Word and His promises.  O...

The sun is shining in Kentucky this Labor Day weekend.  But it doesn't feel like it to some.  Do you see them?  Are you that person? "Do you know someone who needs encouraging in their faith today?"   The reply  of  the unknown reader was "yes, me."    I froze for a moment. I have been there, have you?  That place where you can't encourage your own heart?  You are too numb to think.  You pray to God, you read His Word, you listen to worship, and yet it's so dark.  You're screaming, but it's silent..., you feel no one would want to hear it. It's just not true.  We care, there is someone ready to listen.  We are meant to be here for each other, to help share the load, better yet, to shift the load to God's shoulders. "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is...

We all have seasons that take us to our knees in prayer.  But oh, to be steady there forever on my knees.  That is my prayer , and that is why I share.  Because I can never find peace on my own, with all my fixes and doubts.  "I’ve stood tall and I have crumbled in the same breath" are lyrics that jumped out at me yesterday from the song As You Find Me , by Hillsong United. It's by God's grace that I can look back and see the lengthening of seasons of peace as the seasons of despair shorten.  There is grace for that.  But there are things that come along that break my soul in pieces, and it is there that grace waits to catch me.  It's there for you too. Until our journey on earth takes us to Heaven, we will face mountains that seem to separate us from the love of our Heavenly Father.   But the truth is that He has the purest love a Father can have.  His love is strengthening His children during the hardest of times because  He...

When HOPE is a blur, when it feels elusive, then what?  In my quest for answers, many of which I will never have until Heaven, I have leaned on faith.  But surely faith is tested!  Then what? Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, proof of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 I challenged myself to read the book of Mark this Christmas season, and I can honestly say it was God who challenged me .  For many years I have talked about the Bible, the Word of God, as He describes it Himself in Hebrews 4:12, "full of living power."  I believe that with all my heart!  It's not a magic book.  It's a book, a letter, that God encourages us to read as a GIFT from Him.  He is the GIFT.   He. Is. The. Gift. What a gift then to read about WHY Jesus was born as a baby!  What a gift to see the HOPE that lies beyond the manger!   I even thought as I challenged others to read Mark along with me, that much of it would sound unbe...