If this Christmas season finds you in mourning, I want to encourage you. God wants to give you beauty for ashes—joy in place of mourning—and the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness.
He wants to make a trade with you.
There is a time for grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one. And yet, there is also a time to trade your heavy heart for a heart of praise—a time to allow God to give you beauty for ashes and to turn your mourning into joy.
This may seem impossible to you if you are overwhelmed with your feelings of sadness and loss. I am well aware of the tendency for those feelings to become intensified during the holidays.
This is all the more reason to press into God and to find hope and encouragement in His word.
If you have experienced great loss in your life, be assured that God did not forget about you. He sees every tear and hears the cry of your heart.
Remember, you are never alone. He is with you—right where you are at this moment.
During holiday seasons, our loved ones come to our minds and they are forever in our hearts. But our faith gives us a reason to move forward with hope.
We know their suffering is over and they are the happiest they have ever been. They are in the presence of Jesus.
We can trade our mourning for joy as we realize that God gives us beauty for ashes.
To appoint 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 63:1 KJV
stephanieannmurphy 
Steph, Thanks for your “Beauty for Ashes” blog post. It was significant that I read it just now, today… I went to a Women’s Breakfast this morning at Bloomington, at the church where Mr. Steve and I attended when we first married. in fact, we were married there, in their beautiful little chapel. I was Jennifer’s guest. She took me around to see all the tables, each beautifully and uniquely decorated. we went to the chapel to see the tables there as well. My eyes welled up w tears that spilled over my cheeks. Memories!!! Sweet memories!!! Jennifer gave me a long, warm hug. The last time I was in that chapel was w Mr. Steve. Sherwood Oaks was his church, and I saw some ladies we mutually knew, and he loved the Christmas season and giving gifts. it was all so overwhelming to me. It’s like, now that G is gone, I am free to pick back up w the mourning process and finish working through my grief that I have repressed for the past 3 years. But it is what I want and need to do. I need to go through it, not around it. One thing I do know … I don’t want to neglect the people, family , friends, before me now, because of someone who has moved on to a glorious place . I want to focus on all my many, many blessings, live life to the full, and serve God completely as I live out my life purposes for His glory. Thx again!!
Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S7 active, an AT&T 4G LTE smartphone
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You’re so welcome. I’m glad the blog was helpful. Blessings to you as you finish your grief work.
Steph
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Very good Steph!!
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Thank you Cathi.
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I so enjoyed reading through this. It brought joy to my heart. Thank you for being the right kind of person that truly has a gift for sharing from the heart and blessing other people.
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Thank you Jackie.
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