I got in the car for a drive. I wasn’t sure where I was going but I needed to distance myself from where I was.

In moments, I had my mom on the phone. Some things are just mom-sized issues, you know? Immediately, I started raging. So full of pent-up frustration, I spilled my guts amidst a sea of tears. I had hit an emotional wall.

She listened for a moment and then said,

“Are you driving? You’re so upset you probably need to pull over.”

*****

Life has a way of lessening those hard times somehow. We don’t forget necessarily but we get all filled up with other things. Better things. 

My current season of life has given me a word. 

Restore.

For my dear friends...

Who are suddenly widows. Torn apart by grief. Staring at all the pieces of their life and wondering how they fit together now.

Recovering from unwanted divorce. Grabbing their children fiercely by the hand and figuring out how they’ll live this new chapter together.

Waiting, with an imperfect patience, to move into their forever home. Wondering if such a thing even exists anymore.

*****

So many times in life we have little to offer God but our weary hearts. Souls so tired. Open hands, on bended knee, willing to take any spiritual blessing handouts we can receive.

Oh, I’ve been there. But I’m not there now. 

That’s the beauty of a redeemed daughter of the King. We live our lives much like everyone else. Trying to do good. Hoping good comes our way.

But then sometimes it doesn’t. Go good, I mean. It hurts. It sucks. We get bitter and angry and frustrated. 

Because even redeemed ones are human this side of Heaven.

Here’s the beauty though. The secret of every believer. 

He restores.

God has this way about Him. A King Midas kind of thing. Everything He touches eventually turns glorious. All glory!

One of the most challenging times in my life occurred as we searched for our forever home. We moved in with my in-laws thinking it would be temporary until we sold our house and bought a new one. Six years and a new baby later, we settled in as a family of three. I wrote about it here. 

Such challenging times. Not compared to many challenges. But they were the daily, real challenges handed to us. 

Now, two years later, those hard times have faded. And this property we call home has restored us.

Further, we’ve been granted a gift. We have the opportunity to pay it forward.

A dear friend went through a divorce about three years ago. She wrote about it here. 

Next week, in merely days, she’s getting re-married. Her life. Restored.

The wedding, that joyous event when man and woman join their lives together in front of God and loved ones. Friends, it will take place at my home. 

For both of us, restored means we went through the hard stuff. We clung to our faith in God. We see now, with eyes wide open, that God’s restored is better. Always better.

Rejoicing because He restores.

And given time, we can look back at the broken times of our lives. The struggles. And we can see how every time He lifts us up. 
 

Now, understand, sometimes that restoration may happen at the feet of Jesus. Not meant to be restored in this life.

But when we trust Jesus through the restoring process, we can join hands with other believers and sing the chorus of the old African-American spiritual: 

Give me Jesus,

Give me Jesus.

You can have all this world,

Give me Jesus.

Dear readers, Stay tuned to the blog this week. We have a wedding coming!