Intentional Restoration
We are damaged. Our world is damaged. Relationships, food sources, finances,
health…we are surrounded by people and things in desperate need of healing and
restoration in a world too fast paced to allow time for the important work to
be done. Damaged through neglect,
misuse, and tragedy. Sometimes, it's a
slow degradation, other times, it's an unexpected event that catapults us into
a pit of discouragement and despair.
In a culture that
expects and even demands instant gratification and constant entertainment,
restoration is a concept that is difficult to understand and even more
difficult to embrace. Restoration is a
slow, painstaking, gentle, loving process…progress is often difficult to see
for long periods of time.
It's time to pause.
It's time to begin
to make some deliberate choices that will begin to reverse the short and long
term damage that surrounds us. Sometimes
done to us, sometimes done to ourselves, but the damage is done nonetheless.
We must learn to
look ever so closely at every detail of our lives and begin slowly, lovingly,
to restore our hearts, souls, spirits, bodies, relationships, and homes. There
is no quick fix, no magic potion, no overnight solution that can undo all that
has been done; but we can begin the healing; we can through small, intentional
choices, effect dramatic restoration.
It's time to weave
into the fabric of our daily lives things like rest and grace for ourselves
which will increase our capacity to extend these generous gifts to others. We make a million micro-choices every day.
Begin
small…celebrate every healthy choice, extend grace to ourselves when we
inevitably fall, and we will begin to see a glorious masterpiece emerge,
unique, flawed, ever in need of further restoration, but every intentional
choice we make, not only heals deep wounds, but prevents further damage from
taking hold and is a step in the right direction.
We can't do it all
in one day, but we can do one thing.
Make one choice differently today.
He is the one thing
that matters...if we work to do just one thing of our "get all the things
done list", we are working towards
our goal. Together, we can move from best
intentions to intentional.
This is exactly what we need to hear right now
ReplyDeleteWOW this is so awesome mom!
ReplyDeleteI love you so much and I really hope that you keep posting!
And for all you people out there, you should keep tuning in and read my mom's blog posts.
She's the smartest person I've ever known in the world!
And I agree with dad, ^ This IS exactly what we need right now. This is so good for the other people suffering, and for our family and what we're going through.
I love you mom, and please continue to post! You're encouraging the family, and other people everywhere.