Life has sure changed.
Underlines. Notes in the margins. Tear streaked ink. These cover the pages of my Bible that hold Psalms of tragedy and pain.
Verses about being forsaken. Alone. Broken-hearted. Empty. Helpless. Sinking. Fear.
Emotions expressed thousands of years ago. Shared by my heart for so long. Years I thought would never end.
Today, for myself, I no longer dwell in those Psalms. I seek out the verses of Promise and Hope in the Old Testament, and words of Encouragement and Conviction in the New Testament.
But those underlines. Tears. Notes. They still tug at me. Not for me, but for my girls. The ones I've been praying for these last months.The ones I'll soon be sharing life with. Right now, they are all in places of darkness I have never been or imagined. Those Psalms, the cries for help, for anyone at all to take notice and see me - those will be the cry of their hearts.
So I've circled back. Through autumns of drought and death. Through seasons of barren winter. Through springs alive with new and beautiful things. Through summers filled with light and warmth.
Back to the death and intense hurt caused by sin in this world. But this time. This time. I know that I am safe and secure. I know that life will spring anew for each of these girls. I know the healing brought by God's abundant grace.
". . . to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
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."
Isaiah 61:1b-3
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| photographer Zion DiGennaro |
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