A God of Restoration

In my short 28 years of life, I have seen marriages broken, relationships devasted beyond belief, friendships falling apart, lives wrecked by sinful decisions. But in that short 28 years, I have also seen the amazing work of God in the broken, devastated, falling apart, and wrecked. Maybe not all of them, but many! I have seen God take things that could never be fixed and fix them. I have seen him take things that have been destroyed and restored them until they were better than before. I believe I serve a God of restoration. I believe He is able to do more than we could ever imagine in spite of our rebellion and disobedience in life.
I was reading in Jeremiah 33 tonight. Here is a portion of it that talks about God's restoration...
"But take another look. I'm going to give this city a thorough renevation, working a true healing inside and out. I'm going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I'll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I'll build everything back as good as new. I'll scrub them clean from the dirt they've done against me. I'll forgive everything they've done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on the earth. They'll get reports of all the good I'm doing for her.They'll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her. Yes, God's Message: "you're going to look at this place, these empty and desolate towns of Judah and streets of Jerusalem, and say " A wasteland, unlivable. Not even a dog could live here." But the time is coming when you're going to hear laughter and celebration, marriage festivities, people exclaiming, "Thank God of the Angel-armies! He is so good! His love never quits!," as they bring thank offerings into God's Temple. I'll restore everything that was lost in this land. I'll make everything as good as new. I, God, say so."

I think that speaks for itself. I love the MESSAGE's version of this.
It's talking about God making an unlivable wasteland ( not even fit for a dog!) into something as good as new. Someplace that people all over the earth are talking about because it's so incredibly wonderful. A place of laughter and celebration. That is what my God is capable of.
There is nothing broken that God can't mend. There is nothing destroyed that God can't restore. He is truly a God of restoration. I've tasted and seen.

The Choice is Yours...

I spent 7 hours today on a psychiatric ward doing clinic and while it was exhausting both mentally and emotionally, I was priviledged enough to get to sit in on a group therapy session. The patients' issues ranged from alcoholism to bipolar to depression to suicide attempts and they each brought their own issues into the room with them. But as I sat at the back of the room and listened to what the conversation was about, I gained some wisdom that I think everyone could benefit from.
The counselor was talking about anger and how anger is really a secondary emotion. What she meant by that, is when someone "makes" us angry.. they really aren't "making" us angry. We choose to respond that way and it usually stems from a deeper emotion such as embarrassment or frustration or hurt. Something that person has said or done has brought about some sort of emotion and that emotion has led to anger. She also said that anger just IS. It isn't bad or good. It just is. But how we respond with that anger is the problem. Some people cut themselves. Some people drink or do drugs. Some people lash out at other people. Most of our choices have something to do with a deeper emotion. And the fact is we may have every right to feel that emotion. That emotion may be neither good or bad, but we DO choose in how we respond. Nobody can make us feel something. Nobody can make us feel sad or happy unless WE LET THEM. We give our power away to people. That is our choice to do that. But we have the freedom to feel or do as we want. We need to start taking responsibilities for our actions and for our emotions. We have control over them even though we say we can't control our feelings or actions sometimes. That is a lie that we have all bought into. We make good choices and bad choices in our lifetimes but the main point is the choice is ours..
I believe that if people would start taking ownership of their feelings and of their choices, we would see less chaos on people's lives.
I know this blog was super deep and that is not really characteristic of me, but I wanted to share this

Fall

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I adore it. I love the smells, the colors, the weather. And I can feel it in the air today. The shadows seem to be changing. I can smell it in the air today too. It just smells different. I have felt it coming on for about a week now. Last week I saw the first writing spiders of the season. One in particular builds a web in the same place every year.. near our building outside. They always creep me out a little because they are so big, but it excites me too because I know fall is just around the corner.
I sat out on our front steps today and just enjoyed the feeling in the air. I looked at the beautiful clear blue sky and breathed in the clean smell in the air. When I look around me and see the sights like I saw today, I can see God's fingerprints all over His creation. It is truly an amazing creation. I'm so thankful for my sight. That I can see and bask in the beauty of all that is around me. My heart just feels so full it could burst today. So incredibly grateful for the good gifts my Father has given me.
I'm looking forward to the crisp weather that is coming soon, to get to pull out my sweaters and boots. To not have to worry that I'm losing my tan! It will be here before we know it and I cannot wait!