He restores my soul...
I don't think better words could ever be spoken.
If there was a title to the biography of my life, I think this would be it: He restores my soul. All throughout my life, the Lord has brought restoration to the deepest parts of me. He restores me time and time again, in various ways and in various forms...but at the core, it's always the same - he restores me with His Love.
Some moments when His love restored me?
On the swing set in my back yard. As a child, this was one of my favorite places to retreat. I would begin to sway back and forth to the rhythm of a melody in my heart. Songs of praise, adoration, and thanks to my God rose time and time again from that little swing set. Since I was surrounded by trees, I was usually singing about God as my Creator, the one who made all the nature I could see and still saw me swinging in the middle of the woods. Though I did not know it fully at the time, His love was filling my heart and restoring my soul. Restoring my soul? As a child? Yes - even then. For there in the woods I found my heart would be lifted and my soul refreshed as I came face to face with my heavenly Father. No matter the bad day I had at school or the disappointment I felt at home, I knew I could find restoration with a simple trip to my backyard and a simple song on my heart. He restored my soul.
On a beach in Pensacola. I will never forget the day His restoring love found me on this white sand shore. I was 19 years old and had come through an adolescence filled with incredible heartache. With my mothers mental breakdown, my father leaving home, and the sins of my youth, I had left adolescence with a heart full of rejection, rage, resentment, and regret on many levels. My soul had been wounded and I was barely hanging on to life. But somewhere in the depths of my soul, was the seed of the songs of my youth; those songs I had sung on the swing set were still echoing softly in my heart even in the midst of the loud voices raging inside. On this providential day, I was listening to a song that referred to God as my Faithful Father. The words began to wash over me - I have a Father who knew me before I was born...and He is faithful. He is good. He is love. All at once, my heart embraced the reality that God was my Father and his Love could heal all my pain, all my rejection, all my sin. There on the beach, the Love of my Father stormed through the rage and rejection to offer me acceptance and love beyond measure. There on the beach, he prepared a table for me in the presence of my internal enemies and restored my soul.
When I did not even know. Though I can name countless specific times when the Lord was restoring my soul, I can say that I am often surprised by His restoration in me. There are moments when a painful situation presents itself - a moment when I can easily revert back to old wounds, old resentment, and old patterns of thought - and instead in that moment what do I find? That somewhere along the way, I became like Jesus. Somewhere in the day to day walk with God, my nature was being changed to love and respond like Him. I am suddenly surprised by Grace! In short, without even knowing it was taking place, my heart was being restored. That old nature was being restored, renewed, reformed into His image. I'm not really sure which moments I love the most - the specific, 'dramatic' moments where His love finds me...or the simple, unseen moments where His love is working behind the scenes. All I know is that restoration is constantly taking place whether I see it or not. Why? Because that's His nature. God is always pouring His love into me and shining His Fatherly pleasure over my life. He is the Restorer and I am His target. Every day in every way, He restores my soul.
I don't think better words could ever be spoken.
If there was a title to the biography of my life, I think this would be it: He restores my soul. All throughout my life, the Lord has brought restoration to the deepest parts of me. He restores me time and time again, in various ways and in various forms...but at the core, it's always the same - he restores me with His Love.
Some moments when His love restored me?
On the swing set in my back yard. As a child, this was one of my favorite places to retreat. I would begin to sway back and forth to the rhythm of a melody in my heart. Songs of praise, adoration, and thanks to my God rose time and time again from that little swing set. Since I was surrounded by trees, I was usually singing about God as my Creator, the one who made all the nature I could see and still saw me swinging in the middle of the woods. Though I did not know it fully at the time, His love was filling my heart and restoring my soul. Restoring my soul? As a child? Yes - even then. For there in the woods I found my heart would be lifted and my soul refreshed as I came face to face with my heavenly Father. No matter the bad day I had at school or the disappointment I felt at home, I knew I could find restoration with a simple trip to my backyard and a simple song on my heart. He restored my soul.
On a beach in Pensacola. I will never forget the day His restoring love found me on this white sand shore. I was 19 years old and had come through an adolescence filled with incredible heartache. With my mothers mental breakdown, my father leaving home, and the sins of my youth, I had left adolescence with a heart full of rejection, rage, resentment, and regret on many levels. My soul had been wounded and I was barely hanging on to life. But somewhere in the depths of my soul, was the seed of the songs of my youth; those songs I had sung on the swing set were still echoing softly in my heart even in the midst of the loud voices raging inside. On this providential day, I was listening to a song that referred to God as my Faithful Father. The words began to wash over me - I have a Father who knew me before I was born...and He is faithful. He is good. He is love. All at once, my heart embraced the reality that God was my Father and his Love could heal all my pain, all my rejection, all my sin. There on the beach, the Love of my Father stormed through the rage and rejection to offer me acceptance and love beyond measure. There on the beach, he prepared a table for me in the presence of my internal enemies and restored my soul.
When I did not even know. Though I can name countless specific times when the Lord was restoring my soul, I can say that I am often surprised by His restoration in me. There are moments when a painful situation presents itself - a moment when I can easily revert back to old wounds, old resentment, and old patterns of thought - and instead in that moment what do I find? That somewhere along the way, I became like Jesus. Somewhere in the day to day walk with God, my nature was being changed to love and respond like Him. I am suddenly surprised by Grace! In short, without even knowing it was taking place, my heart was being restored. That old nature was being restored, renewed, reformed into His image. I'm not really sure which moments I love the most - the specific, 'dramatic' moments where His love finds me...or the simple, unseen moments where His love is working behind the scenes. All I know is that restoration is constantly taking place whether I see it or not. Why? Because that's His nature. God is always pouring His love into me and shining His Fatherly pleasure over my life. He is the Restorer and I am His target. Every day in every way, He restores my soul.
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