Beauty out of Ashes

This was written on the weekend after our rural homestays, when we got to experience the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. We went on a 5 hour hike to 3 waterfalls, and I had one of the best days of my life marveling at God’s beauty.  To make things even better, the next morning we had a church service on top of a mountain and listened to a few testimonies from our group.

“In reflecting on the halfway point of my journey here this weekend, I realized just how much I’ve already grown and experienced, how much God has been opening my heart, and how excited I am to live these next 2 months here.  My reflection started when I experienced the most beautiful scenery of my life on a hike to three waterfalls.  I was in awe of how cool It was to stand under a waterfall or at the top of a mountain.  God seriously knows beauty.  Then, this morning I truly felt him through his creation in the mountains.  As I sat doing devotions and then listening to people’s testimonies at our church service, I just felt this renewed sense of passionate love for God.  More love than I could have felt on my own.  God is truly expanding my mind and opening up my heart.  It’s not because I’m in Africa either. I didn’t need to come to Africa for God to renew my love for him, but it definitely has helped the process by witnessing more beautiful natural creation than I ever have in my life, meeting people who love and encourage and teach me, and being pushed out of my comfort zone to where God was the only one who could comfort me, and comfort me he did.  I cannot even express the joy I feel right now that I am finally on the path to redemption and the greatest love I could ever have or ask for.  My prayer for the rest of Uganda is that God will continue to amaze me, bend me, comfort me, and make me stand in awe of his beauty and power.  I pray that he continues to lead me and work in me until I am more in love with him than anything I’ve ever loved.”

My heart hasn’t just expanded for God however, it’s expanded to have more love for people as well.  After the church service on the mountain and hearing people’s testimonies I wrote:

“Isaiah 61:3- God makes beautiful things out of ashes”
“Listening to people’s testimonies this morning has made me aware of how much hurt every person has in his or her life.  But in these testimonies, after the hurt always comes God’s healing.  It makes me wonder, what is it like for people who have no healing at the end of their stories?  The people who have no hope and nothing or no one to look forward to.  God’s redemption has been amazing in so many people’s lives, but there are so many people still surrounded with hurt and darkness with no redemption in site.  I’ve felt a renewed sense of passion and a broken heart for people, no matter what country they are from.  I want to see God turn ashes to beauty in people’s lives, and I want to be a part of it.”

In all that I have been learning about love this semester, my theme song through it all has been “Beautiful Things” by Gungor, and I would love to share the lyrics with you all.

All this pain.

I wonder if I’ll ever find my way.

I wonder if my life could really change, at all.

All this earth.

Could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground, at all?

You make beautiful things.

You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things.

You make beautiful things out of us.

All around, hope is springing up from this old ground.

Out of chaos life is being found, in me.

YOU MAKE ME NEW.

YOU ARE MAKING ME NEW.

Finally, I would love to share some of the beauty I experienced with you, although it cannot be accurately expressed in photographs :)