Beauty from Ashes

In the early 1980’s my husband and I were on our way back to Arizona after visiting with family in California.  It was nighttime and we were driving east on Interstate 10 when suddenly our car started to act funny.   As we pulled over to the side of the highway the engine died!

The highway stretched out for miles with no sign of a car coming in either direction…AT ALL.

It was very dark and I was feeling a little scared – what the heck were we going to do?  All of a sudden a car pulled up behind us!  WHOA!  Where in the world did this car come from? We were shocked and relieved all at the same time!

My husband got out and walked up to the car and spoke briefly with the driver, an old man.   He came back to our car and put the car into gear.  The old man pulled his car up closely behind ours until our bumpers touched.  He began to push our car up the highway to the nearest off ramp, which by the way was quite a distance up the road!

The off ramp brought you to a stop sign where you had to take the overpass to get to the gas station on the other side of the highway.  Then you had to go down this REALLY long road to get to where the gas station was.

This nice old man pushed us all the way to the gas station, how thrilled we were!

Finally off that dark highway and parked safely at the gas station we got out of our car to walk over and thank this nice old man for helping us…he was gone!  *BAM* No car, no old man…he vanished!

There is absolutely no way this nice old man could have driven off without us seeing him.

First, he didn’t have time.  Second, when our car stopped we got out immediately.  Remember that long road leading to the gas station?  Surely we would have seen his taillights as he drove away.  Not to mention you could see the highway from the gas station completely dark in both directions!

As I stood there looking down the highway a wonderful feeling washed over me.  It was the peace the bible talks about in in Philippians 4:7, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”  (New Living Translation)

I knew right then and there that this man was sent from God.  I have never forgotten that night, that man, that encounter.

Thank you Lord for watching over us.  In Psalm 121:5-8 it says, “The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” (New International Version)

Do you have an angel encounter that you would like to share?  I would love to hear about your experience.

The first story my husband read as a little boy was Stuart Little by E. B. White. Stuart Little is a small, white, talking mouse that lives in New York and has human parents. He sleeps in a cigarette box, drives a toy model car and goes on wild adventures. Some of his adventures are exciting while others are scary and even sad. My husband was frightened of mice, but he imagined owning a mouse like Stuart Little and dreamed of the adventures they would have together. At age 58 he still recalls this 131-page book because it left such an impression on his young mind.

Books have the ability to take us places and impact our lives. Some books, like Stuart Little, make such an impression they stay with us forever.

What books have impacted your life?

The bestselling book of all time is the Holy Bible.

Throughout its pages we read about God and His infinite plan for all mankind. We are introduced to Jesus, God’s son and our Savior. We read about the many exciting adventures that Jesus encountered as well as numerous miracles He performed. As you read about Jesus’ love for humanity you will be awestruck!

The Bible says, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13 American King James Version)

Jesus laid down his life for his friends, for all mankind.

Many years ago my husband introduced me to the story of Stuart Little. Like my husband, I loved all of the adventures Stuart encountered. It’s a fun story! A make believe story.

The greatest story of all time is the story of Jesus, it’s a true story. This story will leave an impression that is eternal.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16 New International Version)

I believe, do you?

Regardless of our age we all have the need to feel liked, loved and valued; to know that we matter. When we experience rejection it crushes us and leaves us feeling small and worthless. Left unattended it festers into a poor self image and attacks our self-confidence and self-esteem, that my friend can make life very difficult.

Have you considered the power behind the words you speak? For example, I have three adult children and I have nicknames for all three of them. My oldest son is Ryan James and since he was about two years old I have called him “Ryan-Bob.” Next is my son Justin Louis who I call “Louie or Little Louie,” although he’s not so little anymore! And then there’s my daughter Randee Gayle who I call “Baby Gayle;” yes, even at the age of 27! Nicknames can be fun and endearing, they can make you feel special and unique and as I’ve seen with my adult children, nicknames can stick.

I’m going to hug the porcupine as I share with you a name that my father used to call me when I was growing up…“Stupid.”

I want to describe my father to you. My father is one of the funniest people I know. He is quick witted and has the best sense of humor. My father has this engaging way about him that draws you in. I like to think that those are a few of the qualities that I inherited from him.

I loved my father dearly. When I was a little girl I waited in the front yard for him to come home, I got so excited when I saw his truck approaching, “dad was home!” I had this need to make my father happy with me; if dad was happy, I was happy.

There was always tension in our home. My parents had their struggles and the frustrations they felt spilled out into our home life. My father was short on patience and exerted his frustrations verbally; it didn’t take much to set him off. During those times of frustration he would seek me out and drill me about the issue at hand, it always included him calling me “stupid.” I never understood why he took his frustrations out on me.

The power behind the word “stupid” was fierce and crippling. The rejection I felt from my father when he called me stupid stopped me dead in my tracks and stripped me of all self esteem. His rejection became the driving force behind my need to find favor with him and make him happy with me. I wanted his favor, his love and his approval. I became a pleaser.

The Scars of Rejection

There are many ways we experience rejection, left unattended our scars can last a lifetime. It amazes me the number of people I minister with whose scars found their roots in rejection; rejection that oftentimes began back when they were mere children. Those scars can cripple us from becoming all that God intended us to be. In my case, I let the power behind the word stupid hold me back. I was in bondage to fear. Fear of not succeeding. Fear of not measuring up. Fear of not fitting in. Fear of failure. Those fears became the crutch I used to make bad choices in my life. I lacked the self esteem to do differently. Those bad choices came with some pretty heavy consequences.

What about you, what has rejection cost you?

Here’s the deal…we cannot escape rejection. It isn’t something that we can always control, but we can control our response to it.

What will your response be? Grow thick skin? Act like you’re tough and don’t care? The truth is…we do care! No one wants to live a life of rejection.

Come Over

I don’t need to understand why my father behaved the way he did for me to love and forgive him. I believe God can heal my heart and restore my self esteem as I hand these painful memories over to Him. I also believe God can heal my father’s heart and restore whatever brokenness caused him to behave the way he did. We are blessed to serve a God who’s in the business of healing and restoration. When we choose to hand over the ashes of our lives to Him there is healing.

In Jesus we are over-comers! I always say, “You can’t be an over-comer if you refuse to come over.” I genuinely believe that.

Who has suffered more rejection than Jesus? His own people rejected Him; they were expecting a conquering king not a suffering servant.

In John chapter 6 of the Holy Bible it says that even after Jesus performs miracles right before their eyes, still many turned away and rejected Him. In versus 35 and 36 it says, Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”

Jesus suffered rejection time and time again. Peter was one of Jesus’ closest friends and a disciple, yet he rejected him three times. Judas Iscariot rejected Jesus with a kiss which led to his arrest! Jesus never let rejection change His course, He overcame and He continually handed it all over to his Father.

Are you getting the picture?

If we are to be like Jesus then we are to overcome like Jesus. Sometimes the hurts are harder to overcome, I know all about that. I also know all about the healing that takes place in our hearts when we hand over those hurts to Jesus. He is the Comforter of our soul; if you hand over your hurts to Him he will remove the sting and replace it with His loving mercy.
He promised that He would never leave you nor forsake you and I’m here to tell you, He never will.