“Beauty from Ashes” by Wendy Elliott

This is a piece of writing that my dear Aunt Wendy wrote about her story growing up.  Look forward soon because there is another blog post that she wrote coming in the near future!  She is a huge inspiration to me, especially in terms of a strong woman role model of faith, beauty, compassion, understanding, hope, love, support, bravery, kindness, and God above all.  Thank you for daily inspiring me and rooting for me big time, Aunt Wendy.  I know you will move mountains for me, and you have already done so and will continue to.  My life and the world is not the same without you in it.  You have been there for me and on my side in my brokenness as well as my stages of rebuilding and growth into the wonderful woman God has called and molded me to be.  To the readers, may you enjoy this article as much as I have.  It is a piece of writing that is held close to my heart.

-Love sincerely,

Bethany

Beauty from Ashes

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,

Because the Lord has anointed Me…

To give them beauty for ashes,

The oil of joy for mourning,

The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;

That they may be called trees of righteousness,

The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

-Isaiah 61:1,3

Growing up with immigrant parents from the Philippines, I learned at a young age that people treated me as an inferior person because of the different color of my skin. In kindergarten, my teacher treated my drawings of Filipino houses on stilts with contempt. She made fun of my coconut purse I brought back from a visit to my relatives. And the children would call me “Chink” and pull their eyes into slits when they saw me. I felt shame for being different than the others. In middle school, there were two girls who had it out for me. They bullied me and I cried often throughout my 7th grade year. I learned early that life was unfair and painful.

But it was this pain, loneliness, and emptiness in my life that drew me to God. I went to church, but felt far away from God. I tried reading the Bible but it made no sense to me. As I read the last book, Revelations, about the end times, I became afraid because I didn’t know if I was going to heaven or not. I thought you had to wait until you died to see if your good works outweighed your bad deeds. If they did, I hoped that would please God enough to let me in to heaven. As I waited for church to begin, I prayed to God saying, “God, I don’t know what this emptiness is in my life, but please fill it.” Looking back I see how the Lord answered that desperate prayer. He surrounded me with friends who did have a personal relationship with Him. They had a confidence and a joy in knowing God that I wanted for myself.

They invited me to go to church with them. Their churches were different in that they actually taught the Bible and I learned for the first time what the Bible had to say about going to heaven. I learned that heaven and a relationship with God was a free gift to me paid for by Jesus when He died on the cross. I deserved death because I have sinned against God, but Jesus died in my place and took my punishment on Himself. To receive the gift, all I had to stop trusting myself to get me to heaven, but instead to trust in Jesus to save me from my sins (John 3:16, Philippians 2:8,9; Romans 3:23 & 6:23). I placed my faith in Jesus as my Savior and now I have the same joy & confidence of having a personal relationship with God through Jesus. Now my life is not empty & meaningless. I have purpose in God’s plans and I have the joy of knowing that the Lord is with me through all life’s hardships. One of my favorite verses is Genesis 50:20, “…But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good…” Life will always be unfair and there will be times of pain, but God can use those difficult times to draw us to Himself and bring so much good out of it. He is sovereign and He loves me. He is worthy of my trust even in the darkest times.

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me,

And delivered me from all my fears.

They looked to Him and were radiant,

And their faces were not ashamed.

This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!”

-Psalm 34:4-8

Wendy Elliott