“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” –Psalm 107:2
I got the AMAZING opportunity to go down to Gainesville, GA a few days before training camp for the Beauty for Ashes women’s retreat!
Before I tell you how awesome it was, I have to be real. When I first got the e-mail about the retreat, I was like NO WAY! A retreat where I will learn to share my story with others? That means I would have to be vulnerable with strangers, with my family and friends nowhere in sight. No thank you!
A few days later, after I kind of avoided the topic, God told me to go. I knew that “tone”. It was the same “tone” He used when He showed me the World Race. The only difference was I was all about the World Race, but not about baring my soul for all to see. I didn’t want to get vulnerable with people I’d never met. And, honestly I wasn’t really sure what all was going to come up…I didn’t want to drag things out that I had locked away in my “do not touch” corner.
Even though I was reluctant, I e-mailed them back to let them know I’d like to go. Once it was confirmed, my “no way” attitude started to get replaced with excitement and anticipation. I knew God had something in store for me, but I knew it wouldn’t be easy and probably wouldn’t be pretty. Well, guess what. I’m very glad I chose to listen to Him. IT WAS SO WORTH IT!
In the beginning I wasn’t really sure what to expect, and to be honest, I was kind of skeptical. My hesitancy and skepticism was thrown out the window. I WAS BLOWN AWAY!
We got vulnerable. We cried. We laughed. We hugged. We worshipped our Papa.
We learned to share our stories through drawings. During the sessions, we would take time to pray and ask God to show us where He wanted us to focus and where He wanted to work in us. My drawings didn’t do justice to the images in my mind, but that’s beside the point. It didn’t really matter what they looked like. What mattered was that God was there, showing where He wanted to expose, break/re-break, and heal. The intimacy with my Father and the freedom that came from it all was amazing. His love…It’s amazing.
At the retreat, someone in our group told us about this awesome form of Japanese pottery, called Kintsugi, that related so well to what was taking place. This form of pottery is where people would take their broken pottery to be fixed using gold. The pottery became so much stronger and was worth so much more!
That’s what God was doing in me. He was taking the broken, and healing it with His love and grace. He took the weakest parts of me and began to make them the strongest. He freed me from myself.
What God did there in Gainesville, GA and what He has done around the world through Beauty for Ashes is so beautiful.
God gave me another passion through the retreat. See, at one point, I had thought of women’s ministry, but quickly put that aside. Children are my thing! Right? Yeah, but maybe so is working in women’s ministry. Yes, children are so amazing, but after hearing about how Beauty for Ashes has impacted women around the world and personally being impacted from what God is doing through it, that passion for women’s ministry came out. I’m honestly hoping I get to do a lot of women’s ministry next year…maybe even get to host a Beauty for Ashes retreat, or two or three.
Beauty for Ashes is such a beautiful thing. A thing I want to be a part of.
Please pray for this ministry as it continues to grow…as God reaches out to women around the world and offers healing, freedom, and boldness. Pray that women will continue to accept His beauty in exchange for their ashes. ♥
