Living in
this great big, beautiful, wonderful world, sometimes storms blow in. Really
big storms that bring fires that burn. . .burn bad. And what comes after the
fires? Ashes. And we have a choice to
make. . .sit in the ashes or trade them in. Sometimes we need to sit in those
ashes for awhile, because we can learn lessons there but there is Someone who
doesn’t want us to stay in those ashes forever. He has something SO much better
for us. . .
Isaiah 61:1-3
“…He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness
for the prisoners…to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve…to
bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of
mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Let me
introduce you to four women who have sat in the ashes and learned to trade them
in for some doozy kind of beauty. . . (please
don’t miss the important story and message at the end)
Trading those ashes out for
beauty
and joy and fun, something we had all lost at one time. . .read the rest at the end of pics. . .
PRAISING JESUS!
~TO GOD BE THE GLORY~
So there ya
have it…four southern women…all who have gone through difficulties and heart
breaks in their lives, but made it through with their Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
“He reached down from on high and
took hold of (us); he drew (us) out of deep waters. He rescued (us) from (our)
powerful enemy, from (our) foes, who were too strong for (us).” Psalm 18:16-17
He was there
to comfort, give rest, guide and lead, gave discernment, and brought us out of
the pit. It took time, but. . .we found our way back to joy and fun and we
praise Him, our Heavenly Father.
You say, “You all don’t know what
heart break is!” It’s different for all of us and no matter
what each one is, when it’s our hurt, it hurts!
One of us tried and almost succeeded in suicide. Because of doctors who
did not give up the first time, the second time or the third time, she is with
us today radiating with joy. One of us became the mother of a prodigal, a story
that put her on the couch and lost 30 lbs. over a two week period. It took her
5 years to put it all back on. Two of us have had dear ones in prison. One
ended up on a psyche ward for depression. We’ve all had broken relationships.
And we’ve all survived. We traded in our ashes for beauty.
Some of
these hurts didn’t go away. Some were mended, some restored, and some are still
there being raised in prayer. But praise Jesus! We don’t have to sit in the pit
of despair. No matter the circumstance, we are here to tell ya, when you follow
Jesus, keep your eyes on Him. . .Joy comes! Joy comes! Joy comes in the
morning!
Are you
going through discouragement, pain, depression, some kind of hurt of your
own? Praise Jesus! Jesus is there with
you. Ask Him what it is He wants you to learn while you’re waiting for
delivery. PLEASE! Don’t waste the pain. That is what the devil himself would want you
to do. Don’t give him that. Lean on the strength of the Lord, learn, give Him
the glory and be ready to rise, cause it’s comin’ girl, it’s comin’!
“…weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5
"You have turned for (us our) mourning into dancing; you have loosed (our) sackcloth and clothed (us) with gladness, that (our) glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, (we) will give thanks to you forever!" Psalm 30:11-12
From your sisters in Christ, daughters of the King,
Elaine, Kris, Tamra and Peggy
Elaine ~ Elainecbailey@yahoo.com
Tamra ~ Tlew1207@yahoo.com
Peggy ~ Pgrannybird@aol.com
