Out Of The Ashes

I was in the grocery store today, hurrying around finding things, pushing my full cart along, and suddenly I stopped. I remembered how, not so long ago, I could not even push a grocery cart. I was too weak from not eating. I looked around and smelled the spices and saw the people laughing and happy, and I thought how the grocery store is "no fun", but for some people, it might be a happy place, filled with the smells of the food they love. Especially in "small-town Idaho", people see friends and even relatives at the store. People were standing in the aisles visiting. Others were smiling and waving to friends. Families with six kids were bustling around finding their favourite foods. And I realized _I_ am among those people now. I don't THINK about the grocery store now. I remember one time having a complete melt down in the grocery store. I had to sit on the floor (it was in the bread aisle, I remember :) ), I couldn't even walk. I could hardly move! I was paralyzed. With anxiety. With fear. So much food! All around me! I was, well, freaking out!

Not anymore.

I can go to the grocery store now. I can breathe easier. I can move. My heart beats stronger. My muscles work. My brain works so much better now! I can laugh without feeling like I am going to pass-out.

My life is a thousand times different than it used to be.

How is that possible? How can someone go from where I was...the depth of that trap...to where I am now? How?

There is only one way.

Through a loving God, who makes all things whole. I can run and not be weary. I can walk and not faint.

"Into the darkness He cries. Out of the ashes we rise."

And I did! I rose out of the ashes.

You can, too.