Dusting off the Ashes

I go to the next project. The paintings and knick knacks hanging on the wall.

We have been cleaning and organizing for days with supplies sent over for the earthquake relief that have yet to find a proper home after the depot was destroyed in the shaking.

Now....before I leave....I want to give my parents, especially my mom, some semblance of warmth in her home, in spite of the cracks in the wall. So I remove the wooden eagles from the living room wall.

As I do, I have flashbacks from my childhood from the vantage point of these eagles - dancing to the credits of movies, teasing my sister, reading & watching TV at the same time, eating meals with my family, singing songs, dreaming, loving, living.....

I look at the eagle.

It is covered in ashes.

I pause.

These eagles have seen a side of the island that I have not.

They have seen it shaken, torn apart, devastated in a way that the people living on it today have never experienced before.

They have felt the building sway, the floor beneath them tremble, the walls crack and crack.

They bear the scars.

They wear the dust.

And yet, there they have hung....on this wall.

Standing firm.

"Kembe fem" - that's what the Haitians say.

Hold fast. Be strong. Stand firm.

And I choke back the tears.

My parents, my family, my island, my people have been through a horror so desperate to the core that many are often heard saying that they would rather face 3 hurricanes back-to-back over 1 earthquake.

And yet.....

They....like these eagles....are still here.

Moving forward.

Living.

Loving.

Scarred...yes.

Broken...yes.

Defeated....NO! Definitely....NO!

As I type, I remember.....

Yet those who wait for the LORD

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31

Wow! I have so much still to learn. In my own sorrow, grief, sense of loss, and journey of faith, my waiting has becoming tiring, and I have TOO often become weary.

But I remember the eagles.

The wooden ones.

The real ones.

I remember my parents, the people, this nation with strength from the Lord.....like eagles.

So, I carry on....

I move forward.

One step at a time.

I dust off the ashes.

To all who mourn in Israel,

he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the Lord has planted for his own glory.

Isaiah 61:3