beauty for {ashes}

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“We are all bruised reeds,

whether our bruises are visible or not.

The compassionate life is the life in which

we believe that strength is hidden in weakness

and that true community is fellowship of the weak.”

{Nouwen}

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"To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,

to give unto them beauty for ashes,

the oil of joy for mourning,

the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

that they might be called trees of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord,
that he might be glorified."
{Isaiah 61:3.}
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To the adult adoptees that have found this blog and have begun a constructive dialogue in which you share your life story with candor and grace and rawness and kindness and without assuming that I am just like your imperfect parents, thank you. 

I am listening...

Thanks for visiting my little corner of the internet .... as we all are sinners in need of grace, aren't we?  We all have our pain and we all crave compassion and understanding.  We all want someone to see our wounds and join in the soul-deep gut-wrenching chasm of the hurt so that we don't feel so alone in our grief, our agony, in all that we have lost.

My prayer for you all, for me, is that you find that there is One who knows you, who is well acquainted with sorrow and grief, who is the Mighty Counselor, your Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, who KNOWS...  And not only does He know you, He forgives you... and He is kind, compassionate, and full of mercy. 

With my whole heart, I pray that you receive that grace so that you can then find out the true freedom that comes from forgiving those who have so deeply wounded you... not to excuse the wrongs done to you, but to free your soul from the bondage of bitterness. 

I am living proof that God can make beauty from ashes.

There is Hope. 
I pray you seek it with all of your heart... and you will find it...

“If you forgive someone’s sins,

they’re gone for good.

If you don’t forgive sins,

what are you going to do with them?”

~Jesus Christ

{John 20:22 }

"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,

because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

perseverance, character; and character, hope.

And hope does not disappoint us,

because God has poured out his love into our hearts

by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

~The Apostle Paul, written from prison

{Romans 5:3-5}