From My Sister

Wow... It's been too long since I've written! God has been doing SO much in my heart and in my day-to-day life. Before I go into all of that, I really wanted to share this with you. My sister Elizabeth is one of the most amazing women I know. She doesn't have a blog, so I'm "publishing" this for her on mine. :) Hope she doesn't mind! I was just so blessed by her art of weaving imagery and words together in a way that so clearly shows what Christ does with His children! Enjoy!

• I was a wall. I was a hard, thick, tall wall of sin and stubborn wickedness. There was no good in me. There was no hope left. I was built and surrounded. I was the wall and I was in the wall. Cold, unfeeling, yet hungry and tired; impenetrable evil festered within me.

And then You came, and instead of smashing down on me with the force of your justified wrath, You planted vines around me in the greatest act of Love. Your vines grew up over and into me, slowly penetrating each foul thought, each wicked deed, each malicious motive. Mercy in its gentle power crumbled my defense. You ruined my wall. Instead of allowing me to lie a pile of wicked ruins, Your earth grew up around me and Your vines of salvation died to plant seeds in my unfertile soil. Though I still protested against You, though I continued to fall back into my grotesque ruins, You built me up.

• I am a tree. I am a daughter of righteousness, heir to the throne in heaven, and above all, Loved by my Creator and Father. Though sin battles within my roots, I have been planted by a seed of mercy strong enough to save the world. I am here to grow and to Love and to worship. My leaves dance with joy as the gentle breeze of my Father’s Word sifts through me. Storms come and branches fall as is His will, but He will never let me go, His strength is within me. He won’t relent until He has it all. I am Loved.