beauty for ashes

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated;
Isaiah 61:1-4

Virtually every Christmas Eve I can remember has been spent in the house pictured above. That house is my Grandfather's house. My father, uncle and aunt were raised in that house. My Grandmother battled cancer and then passed from this life into heaven in that house.

I spent 2 weeks every summer in that house growing up. And I'm sad. I'm sad for my family that has lost so much. I'm sad for all who have lost so much.

I'm also extremely happy and excited...because my grandfather, his wife, my aunt and uncle, my aunt's parents, my cousin and his wife and child, my step-aunt and her husband and small child all survived. Thanks be to God!!! I realize how easily we could be planning a funeral right now.

I just keep thinking about the verse above from Isaiah. Jesus has come to proclaim the goodnews. He will take all those ashes and make them into something beautiful.

All of you keep praying because those prayers are being answered. We've seen amazing answer to prayer.....and almost more importantly we have felt God's peace over all of us.

Note: For anyone reading this who is unaware of what happend....go to any major news site and read about Greensburg, Ks 5.04.07