Beauty from Ashes - A Continual Process

I have always been prone to separation anxiety.   I still get a lump in my throat when anyone leaves, whether they’re going back to Ohio, Texas, Iowa, or school!!!   Yes even the first day of school gets me!   There is a trigger there that I can’t explain…a level of grieving that might seem foolish to a lot of people. So I have dreaded this day all summer.   Not because someone is leaving me, but because my daughter, Kristen, is leaving the children she loves in Los Bordos, San Pedro Sula, Honduras after serving and loving on them for 2 months.    I feel the crush on my chest as if it were me…because she is a part of me.   I have always felt every emotion of our two kids at the deepest level.  Today  I feel it double, for Kristen and for the children in Los Bordos. But I can not camp here!   All summer I have prayed for the Lord to prepare Kristen for this day.   Can I not trust Him?   I’ve kept the dread away from my ...

Sometimes we just need some protein!  A good word to punch the dark!  Circumstances swirl around us, often spinning out of control. But there is One Who is in control and we can trust HIM.  Let us “enter His gates with thanksgiving, His courts with praise!” As we pray,  and skim for HOPE.  God will show it to us! 1 Chronicles 29:10-13a -  David’s Prayer of Praise  “O   Lord , …,   may you be praised forever and ever!   11  Yours, O   Lord , is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O   Lord , and this is your kingdom.  We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12  Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. 13  “O our God,  we thank you and praise your glorious name !...

Triggers of past rejection, poor self-image, self-hatred can pound heavily on the door of my heart, if I don’t guard it with prayer and Scripture.  I’m going to focus on “ rejection ” right now because that was a big area of my heart that needed God’s healing. I recently put a status on facebook about being “ complete in Christ ,” not in a “completed list of tasks!”   I think this “ rejection thing ” falls into the " completion " category for me.  The reason is, I start to believe that when I am finally accepted by everyone in appearance, accomplishments, abilities, … then I will be " complete " enough to be ok with me and with God!  You can see how the chase after these things, can distract heavily from the chase after God’s heart and His plans.   For me, I will never be complete in my own efforts, never satisfied! I share this openly because I pray that the " rejection " you feel will fade as the "lie" that it is for you!  The slightest w...

In the battle with depression, anxiety, and fear, my first step in healing was/is in feeding, clinging to the Word of God.  I would reading over and over one single verse on a 3x5 card for days, weeks, months…until it was sown deeply into my soul, not as an act of memorization, but as survival!   Don't be overwhelmed or condemned by what you don't know!  I was paralyzed by what I thought I should already know in Scripture when I was first diagnosed with clinical depression and anxiety.  Thank God he used a woman to help me trust in just one verse.  The verse was Psalm 138:8, "The  Lord  will work out his plans for my life—     for your faithful love, O  Lord , endures forever.     Don’t abandon me, for you made me." Just be over joyed at the simplicity of God meeting you with one verse at a time!  It's not about volume when you are in despair...it's about hope.  I’m telling you,...