A Beautiful Picture of Restoration
Sep 14th, 2007 Filed Under: Faith
I’ve been looking through my collection of Hurricane Katrina photos the last couple of days, and I came across something that spoke volumes to me about God’s restoration. I want to share those photos and my thoughts with you.
This is a photo of our backyard, taken from our deck the day after the storm.
What a mess! After the storm was over, we assessed the damage to our property, and we realized that we had seriously underestimated the power of the storm and it’s destructive nature. During the storm, we had no idea of just how bad things really were - or how long those bad consequences would affect us.
Likewise, during stormy seasons of weak faith, we often make bad decisions that lead us to sinful actions, words, or thoughts which have long-lasting, destructive effects. When the storm is over, and we survey the damage, we realize what a mess we’ve created.
Morning light streaming into our backyard. This is a photo was taken from the same spot on our deck 20 months later. A volunteer, disaster-recovery team from a church in Colorado Springs, CO came in with their heavy-duty equipment and helped us do what we couldn’t have done on our own. What a wonderful gift from the Lord!
Just like the light flooding into our backyard, God’s loving conviction shines a light on our wrong attitudes, words, and actions, exposing them as sin, and revealing to us the need for our repentance. Even though we were created to do good works, God’s Word says that WE cannot do the work that will earn our forgiveness - it is a gift from God, (Ephesians 2:8-10).
A place of quite rest. This photo is taken from the same deck two years after the storm.
First John 1:9, assures us that if we knell down in repentance, we will stand up forgiven. The New International Version says it this way, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And Acts 3:19 includes the promise of refreshment following repentance, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”
As you can see, we’re enjoying our backyard again, thanks to the sacrifices made by the recovery team who drove their own heavy equipment 1,300 miles, slept on cots in a Sunday School room, and bathed in community shower tents. Ms. Jenny and her husband, two of the team members that worked on our yard, sacrificed their anniversary cruise to make the trip here, and we are so thankful to them and all the others who did so much to help us during our time of need.
Keeping it real,
Related Posts:
This is beautifully thought out and expressed.
The photos are beautiful…especially the morning light one…and I love how you did your analogy. It is so meaningful and so true !!
A heart message for all of us!
It is such a blessing to have God’s family rally round to help one another when there is a disaster. You back yard is perfectly restored….better than it was before??
Thank you for sharing those pictures. When Katrina hit we prayed for those who lived through the storm, and now I know someone who did.
@Julie: Yes, our backyard is beautifully restored, but there are many people in our area still working to get there homes and lives back in order. We’ve seen such an outpouring of love from the Christian community in the form of prayers and relief teams. We are so very appreciative.
@Lovella: Thank you so much for your payers. You can’t imagine how mightily we saw God work that ordeal. At some point I started recording the times I recognized His handiwork, and I was greatly humbled that He was spending so much time with us. Then I realized that He was probably always that busy in our lives, we just hadn’t been looking for Him as eagerly.
How Beautiful!
just checking out your blog, gonna submit it to stumbleupon
The morning light image is a great photo
Hi, This is my first time on your blog and I must say I was touched by this post. I really am short of words . When we heard about Katrina down here, there was a lot of donations done from churches and organisations, but I know nothing donated can replace a loss. Am happy your story turned out happy.
i love the picture
Oh wow, I wish I could be there when you took pictures. Its just a great place to visit.
nice pics
each time i take a look at these pictures, i still see the agony,pain and loss people suffered and i learn some of my lessons
Great pictures, thanks for sharing.
I like the picture of the sun shining through the trees. My new house has one tree in the yard and it’s only about as tall as I am…I miss tall trees!
They’re some great shots witht he sun coming in on the camera, real nice. Thats a big garden too ;o)