why 'Beauty in the Broken'?

i had to start a new blog cuz the old one ran out of memory space (well, at least the free memory space provided by Blogger. i had never resized my images for web. go figure. crazy). to visit my former blog, please click HERE.

Anyway, I hemmed & hawed for a new name and while a few came to mind that would have been okay and 'done the trick', none of them really stuck with me. I prayed that the Lord would give me the name and He did. 

it was while washing dishes one afternoon and it just came. 'Beauty in the Broken'.

the Book of Joel talks about God being our Redeemer and restoring what the locusts have eaten even more than the original harvest. He gives back one hundred, sometimes one thousand, fold. He's just like that with us, His kids.

...an adoring Daddy.

then the verse about beauty being made from ashes whispered to my heart. Yup, He does that, too. No matter what kind of mess we currently find ourselves in or the messes that await us in the future or the messes we have left behind that still haunt us every now and again, He's already taken care of all of it. every single one. He thrust Himself into the arena for us. He humbled Himself as a squalling babe one cold night and willingly, for the JOY set before Him, came into this big mess we call a dying, sinful world full of dying, sinful people.

He's Emmanuel, God with Us.

and He's in the business of fashioning beauty from the dusty ashes we desperately try to hide in the dark corners of our resentment, our unspoken shame, our gnawing guilt, and our binding bitterness. He says, 'Let me take that on. Here, you take this beautiful gown. Go on, Beloved. Put it on. It's yours. I bought it with my blood. Wow, you look incredible. I'm so in love with You...

...You're just Beautiful.

so that's that. all of life this side of heaven is going to be tinged with heartache of some kind, even the best things in life like marriage, parenting, milestones, new jobs, etc. They are great but they're only passing shadows of the real thing: Heaven, where true, everlasting beauty lies.

This blog is my personal journey of life's ups, downs, and everything in between and seeking to find the Beauty He wants to create from my ash heaps. He's so amazing. Join me!