I used to be envious of women who had successful ministries and would say, “God gave me this passage to lead me in all that I do.”  Sure he did, I thought.  He never gave me a Scripture.  Oh dear. My ego was bruised and I wondered if God would ever give me a special Bible verse to build a ministry upon.

So I did what any good Christian woman would do (after pouting for just a little while):  I prayed.  And I waited.  And I prayed some more and waited some more.  Then one night, in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep … when life was in a down-turn and my faith was being tested and I wondered if my dream for ministry might have vanished in a poof of air like a regular night-time dream … I was reading Isaiah 55:12-13 and there it was:

“For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier the myrtle will sprout up;
This shall be for the Lord’s reknown,
For an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.”

I have always felt called to serve women who were struggling with starting over…struggling with knowing their value and understanding their true worth as beautiful creations of God.  And this verse – this verse said it all:  “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree. And instead of the brier the myrtle will sprout up…”

Is your life like a tangle of weeds, filled with thorns and brambles, painful or just all-mixed-up?  My purpose is to nurture you until those thorns become like huge Cypress trees with strong, thick trunks and arms that spread wide and provide shade for the paths of many people.  My purpose is to raise you up so that those briers shall bloom like the Myrtle which, though the trunk looks small – supports more flowers than it ever looks like it should — bright, beautiful and plentiful flowers year after year!

I cannot wait to get to know you all and to join together in GROWING YOUR BEAUTIFUL LIFE!