Quick Thought – Wednesday, July 6, 2022: Beauty For Ashes

Read

…to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning…
Isaiah 61:3a

Reflect

My family gets together at my stepfather’s house every year on the weekend of the 4th of July. The tribulations of the past two years have made these gatherings even more special, and we tend to celebrate successes even more than we did before. In the past year, we’ve seen a lot of victories. Just among the younger generation, these were some of our success stories:

One graduated from college with his master’s degree — and is starting his second master’s in the fall.
Another graduated from high school and has hopes of getting into his dream school in January.
Two have two-year-old toddlers who are both sweet and smart. One of them also had a second baby who seems be poised to be an NFL linebacker. He’s huge!
Another is continuing to build her hair salon client list, which was largely wiped out when she was quarantined with COVID-19.
One started a new job with an organization that uses horses as part of a rehab program for disabled veterans.
Two others are in college and are on track to graduate on time. One of them has hopes to eventually enter the armed forces as a pilot.
And one of the youngest is a leader on her high school cheerleading team and is making the grade in her high school’s IB program.

This is just a sampling (because there were so many good news stories I couldn’t remember them all). And yes, I have a big family. But I’m sure if you took stock of your family, you might find similar stories of victory that might have been overlooked amidst the turmoil of COVID, overseas wars, supply chain issues, high gas prices and inflation.

The fact is that God doesn’t stop working just we are beset with hard times and difficulties. In fact, He uses everything — even the garbage of our lives — to make things that are infinitely more beautiful than we could imagine.

Today, think about your 2021 and 2022. What victories have you experienced that might have flown under the radar — maybe even yours? Do a brief life inventory and take a little time to thank and praise the Lord for being faithful in spite of the messes and frustrations.

About Douglas Blaine

Capnpen is a writer who was a newspaper and magazine journalist in a previous life. A college journalism major, he now works as an English teacher, but gets his writing fix by blogging about a variety of topics, including politics, religion, movies and television. When he's not working or blogging, Capnpen spends time with his family, plays a little golf (badly) and loves to learn about virtually anything.

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