Beauty for Ashes

"For unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."—Isaiah 61:3.

February 14th - 19th is the hardest time of the year for me.  My dad passed away on February 14th, 2009 and would have celebrated his 64th birthday on the 19th of that same month.  Today he would have been 67.  Happy Birthday Dad!

Each year for the past two years I have anticipated this time of year with great heaviness and grief.  Being that the anniversary of my dad's death falls on Valentine's Day each year, it's hard to muster up romance when I'm grief-stricken.  Usually what ends up happening is I sabotage any attempt Ron makes to be caring and romantic, because I'm an emotional wreck.  This is what I anticipated this year, but the reality turned out differently. 

The Sunday before Valentine's Day I felt the fog of grief descending.  It became thicker as we approached VDay, so I braced myself (and Ron) for a repeat.  It was all I could do to get Ron a card and write some sweet sentiments down.  I had the card ready for him when he left for work on Tuesday morning, but he didn't see where I left it (fumble on my part).  With his card still laying on the counter and nothing there for me, I went to work feeling pretty depressed.  I was in that "thin layer of tears lining the bottom lid and could burst into tears at any given moment" mood. 

Ron called mid-morning and asked if he could take me out to lunch.  Almost immediately my mood changed.  He let me choose the restaurant, so we met at Chilis and I was greeted with a beautiful bouquet of roses and tulips.  We had a great lunch that ended with Chili's Chocolate Molten cake and all of a sudden I knew that - in the midst of chocolaty bliss - life was going to be ok.  The flowers became a beautiful and fragrant addition on my desk.

The early evening of Valentine's Day was spent at MLKU, the tutoring program with which I help on Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Seeing the sweet faces of children that I love and receiving their Valentine's Day affection and candy warmed my heart.  I mean, how can you not love a face like this:

Thursday night Ron was honored as one of "40 Leaders Under 40" by the Triad Business Journal.  If you know Ron, you know he's not one to "toot his own horn."  With that being said, it leaves ample room for his wife, mom, mom-in-law, and 10 co-workers to toot it for him and celebrate this award with him.  The event gave us a reason to dress up, be with family and friends, network with some uber interesting "under forty folks" and enjoy great food.  Plus they gave us heart shaped clappers, which were too much fun (especially for Susan Milner)!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Ron's coworkers made badges with Ron's face plastered on it and decided to wear it to the event.  They gave my mom and his mom one too.  It was great and of course Ron really loved (READ: HATED) the badges.

The next day I was able to enjoy the morning with the best mom and mom-in-law a girl could ask for!  We went to Breakfast Of Course for a delectable brunch: breakfast burrito, french toast, organic yogurt, fruit and what I'm affectionately calling "Heaven's Dew."  For those of you who know me personally, you know that my tea of choice is 99.9% of the time ____________?  If you guessed Earl Grey (with milk and sugar), you guessed right.  I asked for the tea menu at BOC and was intrigued by the Lemon Mango Tea.  I ordered this tea and found heaven's dew!  After going to Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery and Baby's R Us (no, NOT for us), we drove right over to Angelina's Tea and purchased the dew of heaven.  Thanks Mom!

                                    

My all time, hands down, one hundred percent favorite play is Les Miserables.  There are few other stories that so clearly speak to the freeing power of grace and the crippling power of the law than this play (except of course THE story of redemption found in the Bible and which culminates in Christ.  THIS story is from where all other redemptive stories flow).  Ron had been looking for months to see when the play was touring in the U.S., and finally he discovered it was playing in Raleigh the week of Valentine's Day.  Could the heart shaped stars aligned more perfectly?  We got tickets for each other for Christmas and had eagerly anticipated this weekend for months.  In preparation I had been listening to "Les Miserables" Pandora at any opportunity possible.  We drove to Raleigh on Friday afternoon and after several nail-biting bouts with Friday traffic we made it to 518 West for a delicious dinner before the play.  We drove to the theater, found FREE parking (SCORE), and entered into the wonderland that is Les Mis.  I don't think I am exaggerating to say I was as giddy as a chubby kid in a candy shop.  Here's proof: when Ron was in the bathroom, this was what I did.

Mildly creepy?  Yes, I know.  There's a Les Mis anonymous out there somewhere, I'm sure.  The play was every ounce as wonderful as I anticipated and I was thrilled to experience it with Ron as it was his first time.  I left loving the gospel even more!  Grace frees and the law binds!

We stayed with dear friends, Justin and Sarah Leonard, in Holly Springs on Friday night.  On Saturday we enjoyed a long brunch with them catching up on the past several months.  They are special folks, and it was a treat to see them.  From Holly Springs, we went on to Greensboro to visit with some more great friends, Noah and Tina Forlines.  We hadn't really connected with them since our wedding, so it was great to spend a couple hours hearing about each other's life over an Earl Grey Tea.  After meeting with Noah and Tina we drove back to Winston-Salem, unpacked, took a power nap, and met up with some friends to bowl in preparation for "Bowl for Kids Sake" next weekend.  It was great fun! 

And today I was able to worship with my church family at Calvary hearing Will Toburen faithfully and passionately preach about God's design for the family as well as talk about "The Day of the Lord" with the college ministry.  After several errands, Ron and I ended up having an unexpected night indoors due to the raging snow storm (READ: light dusting that causes any Southerner to panic, stock pile food, and stay home at all costs).

God's grace!  By His grace, the dreary fog between February 14 - 19 turned out to be an incredible week.  I finished this week feeling more blessed than I possibly deserve.  Truly God turned my ashes into beauty, my mourning into gladness, and my spirit of heaviness into praise!

I know you thought this blog would never end, but let me close with one last thought.  I don't mean to imply through this blog that good circumstances equal beauty, gladness and praise.  It is the hope of the Christian faith that even in the midst of great adversity, that one can have deep comfort and peace.  More than rejoicing in good circumstances, I want to join Job in saying, "The Lord gives and takes away; blessed be His name." And with Paul who learned to be content in whatever the circumstances, whether in need or in plenty.  The beginning of the Isaiah passage with which I started this blog points to this unwavering hope: the Spirit of the Lord.  The great gift given to believers at the point of repentance and faith.  It is through the power of the Spirit of the Lord at work in the heart of Christians, that one can enjoy the good circumstances but hope in the bad too, because Christ has beaten death and one day ALL THINGS WILL BE NEW!  That is the hope of this little lady and the purpose of this blog.  So may I be like a tree firmly planted bringing great glory to the Lord!

"For unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified."—Isaiah 61:3.