Beauty for Ashes: Portraits of Faith

Copyright © 2011 Sharon J. Weston

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0014-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0015-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011940109

Printed in the United States of America

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 10/18/2011

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Prologue

Portrait I:

Robin

PORTRAIT II:

Betty,

Part I

Betty,

Part II

PORTRAIT III:

Nancy

PORTRAIT IV:

Lynn

PORTRAIT V:

Priscilla

PORTRAIT VI:

Gene

PORTRAIT VII:

Marie

PORTRAIT VIII:

Nancy Elizabeth,

Part I

Nancy Elizabeth,

Part II

PORTRAIT IX:

Karin

PORTRAIT X:

Jan

PORTRAIT XI:

Suzanne

PORTRAIT XII:

Ada

PORTRAIT XIII:

Heather,

Part I

Heather,

Part II

PORTRAIT XIV:

Bev

PORTRAIT XV:

Mary

PORTRAIT XVI:

Phoebe

PORTRAIT XVII:

Jinny

Afterword

Acknowledgements

To my mother, Loretta Beckwith Weston, whose courage,

faith and strength have been an inspiration to me all the days

of my life and whose unfailing love, support and encouragement

have challenged me to be more than I ever expected to be;

and

To my son, David William Weston, whose presence in my

life for the past 27 years has given me more love, more joy,

more hope and more reason to become all I can be than

I ever dreamed possible;

You have been and always will be the wind beneath my wings.

Foreword

I was deeply touched to be asked by Sharon Weston to write the foreword to Beauty for Ashes: Portraits of Faith. Quite honestly, however, I was also intimidated at the thought of how I could possibly bring to life the reason this book was written.

Then I realized, beloved Reader, that it is you who gives this book its meaning if you allow God to speak to your heart through the voices of the women in these pages.

Many of these women are dear to my heart, including Sharon Weston. I met Sharon almost a decade ago, and our friendship continues to grow as we travel together this journey of faith.

Sharon has a kind and gentle way about her that immediately puts others at ease. Once you meet her, it is obvious that God’s Holy Spirit lives within her.

Sharon has a calling for women’s ministry. She has led many women’s retreats and has been involved in other women-related ministries. She recently returned from three weeks in Zambia, Africa, where she was part of a mission team serving in an orphanage, a school and a women’s empowerment center.

God placed this book on Sharon’s heart several years ago. It is a huge blessing to me to see it come to fruition and to know that it now rests in your hands.

It is my prayer that you will feel God’s love for you through the faithfulness of Sharon and the other women in this book who have heard and answered God’s call to share their stories with you. May God’s healing touch be upon you.

Robin L. Forbes

Certified Lay Speaker

United Methodist Church

Preface

The way of faith is not an easy one. Hebrews 11:6 states: Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

This book has been commissioned by God. In its pages you will find the faith stories of seemingly ordinary women whose faith in God has given Him permission to work in their everyday lives to help them become remarkable women of extraordinary courage, strength, perseverance, grace and love. Like some of those described in Hebrews 11, God has brought them from ashes to beauty, transforming their lives in such a way that they now reflect His glory and serve as shining inspirations to others.

**************

On a personal note, I have been writing since I was six years old, but I enjoy writing fiction. Nonfiction has held little appeal for me. In fact, I had laid aside my writing altogether when my son, David, was born 27 years ago, and since then had written very little.

In the spring of 2005, I began to realize that the Holy Spirit was preparing me to begin writing again. Although the only thing I had ever dreamed of being was a writer, I had given it up and decided that I was just not meant to write. When I began to feel those stirrings within me again after such a very long time, I was stunned and wary. I prayed about it and told the Lord that, if He wanted me to write, He would have to tell me what to write about, and I left it with Him.

Although the thought of writing again never left me, I put it on a back burner, feeling that if I was truly hearing from God, He would let me know in His own time what He wanted me to do with the idea. In the meantime, He had given me a women’s retreat ministry, Garments of Praise Ministries, to start, and I was fully occupied with that. The retreats are based on Isaiah 61, and there was an initial series of three weekend retreats: Beauty for Ashes, Oil of Joy for Mourning and Garments of Praise for a Spirit of Heaviness.

One evening in March, 2006, as I was driving home from work, the following words dropped into my mind: Beauty for Ashes: Portraits of Faith. I was so startled that I almost drove off the road because I knew immediately that this was the title for the book God wanted me to write. As I processed the words and began to savor them in my mind, the idea for this book began to unfold. I was to share the faith stories of some of the ordinary women I knew and of how God had brought them from ashes to beauty in their faith journeys with Him.

As I began to wonder which women I should include, some of their names began to drop into my mind. I set about contacting them to ask if they would be willing to participate in this special project. Most of them agreed, although all of them felt their faith stories were nothing special.

I started actually working on this book in July, 2006. However, I soon set it aside, and during the next several months I became busy with other things and let it go. In January, 2007, at our Oil of Joy for Mourning retreat, our small group was discussing the question we had been asked to cover: What is God calling you to do? When it was my turn, I mentioned the retreats and then spoke about the book. The other women in our group immediately asked what it was about, so I told them. One of the women in the group said she would love to publish it for me, since she and her husband have a printing/publishing business. I couldn’t believe it! God had given me a publisher, and the book wasn’t even written yet!

Also during that retreat, God gave me the names of four more women whom He had chosen to be included in this book, and they all agreed to be a part of it. I knew beyond any doubt that I was not only being given the green light for this project, but also being given a huge nudge to get busy. Since then, He has added several more portraits to the book, as well.

In March of 2011 during a time of prayer, I felt a very strong nudge to finish the book before I left on a mission trip to Zambia in June. At that time the book was 95% completed, but I had been dragging my feet because I didn’t feel I could do justice to one of the women included in the book. However, having been given a deadline, I began working on that one portrait, which turned into two, and then felt led to ask one more woman to share her story, as well.

Unfortunately, the woman who had originally offered to print and publish the book had moved to Florida and no longer felt that she could handle the project, although she did volunteer to do the proofreading for me. I found myself wondering and praying about whom I could find to do the project for me that I felt I could trust. But the Lord had that all figured out. I should have known that He would, since the book was His idea.

On Wednesday, May 25th, I received a new issue of Guideposts magazine, a publication I had subscribed to and enjoyed for many years. While preparing for bed that night, I looked through it and discovered an ad for Inspiring Voices, a new service of Guideposts offering self-publishing help to Christian authors. I couldn’t believe it! "Inspiring Voices" – exactly what this book is about. And a service of Guideposts, an organization I had known, valued and trusted for many years, a new service that began in April, 2011, right after the Lord had prompted me to finish this book before leaving for Zambia. God’s timing. How amazing! I was able to complete the book the next day.

**************

As I said, this book was commissioned by God. Each woman portrayed has a favorite scripture that reflects God’s work in her life, and so the cover page for each portrait shares those scriptures with you. Most of the portraits are included as written and consequently reflect the individual voices of the women who wrote them.

My prayer is that you will find within its pages renewed hope for the days ahead and restored faith and strength for the journey, as well as deep peace and quiet joy for your heart.

My hope is that you will be blessed by the stories of faith shared by these remarkable women, as well as by the beautiful artwork of Rhea Lynn Kennard and Mary Truesdell and the inspirational poetry of Jamie Lynn.

Prologue

Home on the Bluff

WELCOME!

Come in and let me introduce you to some very special friends of mine. Sit here by the fire, have something hot to drink, and relax for awhile as they share their special stories with you, a fellow pilgrim on this journey of faith.

Perhaps you’ll find some common threads that will connect your heart to theirs.

Perhaps you’ll find your own faith strengthened, your spirit lifted.

Perhaps you’ll even be inspired.

Perhaps the hope you thought was gone will be restored.

Perhaps the fire inside that you thought had gone out will blaze anew.

Who knows? Perhaps you’ll even want to share your own faith story once you’ve heard theirs.

Because you do have one, you know. If you didn’t, you would never have come this way.

Butterfly

Portrait I:

Robin

On the day I called, You did increase the strength of my soul.

Psalm 138:3 RSV

Like you I enjoy the warmth of the sun on my face and the smell of spring’s flowers.

Like you I enjoy listening to music or curling up with a good book on a lazy Saturday.

Like you I enjoy hearing the sound of the rain and becoming caught up in it.

Like you I believe in being kind to others and to the Earth.

Like you I believe in God and the miracles He performs.

Like you I smile when I see children and animals at play.

Like you I enjoy laughing so hard I cry.

Like you I work and contribute to society.

Like you I ask for acceptance, respect and dignity… to blend in.

Like you I long to love and to be loved, a touch, a kiss, a hug, the feeling of being the sun in another’s whole universe.

But, unlike you, I