God

Beauty from ashes

/ Body Mind n Spirit / 2 Comments

It’s Sunday… and since this blog encompasses health and wellness of the entire being (body, mind, AND spirit), I’d love to devote Sunday blog posts specifically to addressing topics that encourage the spirit and growth in faith.

I currently live in a “flood home”.  What I mean is this home was destroyed by a horrific flood in 2010 that hit the U.S. Northeast in epic proportions.  While I moved into this adorable cottage-style home years after this devastation, I was told that the floodwaters neared the tops of the windows of the first floor, and the entire neighborhood was evacuated by boats and rescue teams.  Fast forward to today, and this home is absolutely charming.  The owners were devastated at the time.  Everything was washed away or destroyed, leaving  silt, sewage, and filth in its place.

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But today, this home is restored, rebuilt, renewed.  To see these pictures, you’d never have realized the destruction that was in its past.   And this home is a constant reminder to me of a bigger theme… “rebuilding” is the heart of God.  God brings beauty from ashes! And while this happened in a physical sense to my home (and around the world to rebuilding of neighborhoods, businesses, and homes from natural disasters), God is in the business of rebuilding hearts, lives, families, relationships…forgiveness.   Wow.

  • Isaiah 61:1-3
  • Psalm 30:4-5, 8-12

There is much meat here.  This is deep.  And if you’re interested in digging deeper into this, I encourage you to do so.

God’s word says He restores, NOT  just because He loves you, but to bring praises to God.  That others would see the restoration and know from whence it came … the restoration is “for the display of his splendor” … to give glory to God.  His heart is for his people.  We are not to be silent when we see rebuilding in our lives, our marriages, our families, our children, our finances, our emotions etc., but instead acknowledge what God has done.  It’s AMAZING how much it creates a grateful heart.

So as I sit in my little home that is totally restored and more beautiful than the original, I am reminded to be so VERY grateful for all the beautiful things God has repaired in my life … from divorce to remarriage, from broken relationships with children to renewal, from having no faith to a faith-filled life, from losing parents to gaining friendships … on and on.   Beauty from ashes.

Valerie