Beauty from Ashes

Once there was a girl who dreamed great dreams. It was her way of escaping from the realities of life. She dreamed of great loves and new places and a happy life. She found relief from the adversity in her life by living inside of her mind, and she escaped into her fantasies whenever life got too tough.

She wrote stories, and poems that conveyed the emotions she tried to conceal. She sang and she cried, waiting for a time when life would offer her an opportunity to be free and live her life.

Though she suffered great emotional pain and torment, she survived, and with time she began to grow into the woman she hoped to be. There had been so many mistakes over so many years. She was still searching for that escape, and she carried the burden of her scars.

Time has a way of nurturing maturity, and over a half of a lifetime she would learn to grow from her mistakes. Still, there were times when her lack of belief in herself caused her once again to fall, floundering, gasping for life and begging her Savior for forgiveness.

As time wore on, she began to find hope, and she realized that indeed something beautiful was growing from the ashes of despair. As she placed her trust in the Lord, she found sturdier footing and began to climb out of the pit. Reaching her hands to the sky, she praised God for rescuing her and giving her new life; abundant life, and it grew day by day to be rich and full of Light.

Life is meant to be lived fully, reaching for hope and breathing in the possibilities. The reality is that this is the only life we get, and living fully in each moment is the only way to savor this one life.

We all fall down. Sometimes we are stuck in the mire and feel no way out. But there is a way, and it is through a relationship with Christ. Jesus is the way, the only hope of new life. Through Him we will know God, and know of this abundant life we have been given.

Even though we all suffer trials and setbacks, we keep moving forward along with the hands of the clock and each season of the calendar. We need to find a way to live fully in the moment, to grasp the absolute beauty of each day we have been given.

And even though we may have landed in the muck, when we reach out to the One who can rescue us and free us, even from our own poor choices, we find love and forgiveness and the opportunity for life in a brand new day.