Ashes to Beauty is a women’s ministry whose mission is to lead women into the knowledge of who they are in Christ. We use the process of furniture renewal or creating junk journals as a way to illustrate what Jesus did for us through his crucifixion and resurrection. Our vision is that all women know who they are in Christ.
The ministry holds all day workshops which include praise and worship, teaching, cleaning and painting a small piece of furniture or creating a junk journal, along with lunch, fellowship and sharing.
Ashes to Beauty was birthed out of the struggles of losing my mother, and while working with a counselor recognizing why I had adopted the view I had of myself. That view had negatively impacted major life decisions for 50 years but gaining a new understanding of how God can make beauty from ashes changed the journey I was on.
I felt led to start this blog as a way to extend beyond the ministry’s current vision in order to shine a spotlight on the need for intentional ministering to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We all have been made in the image of God-not just those who look or act like us. Having a son with Down syndrome brought the disability world into focus and forced me to more deeply consider how to address spiritual development. All too often people with ID and DD are brushed off to the side and thought incapable of having a relationship with Jesus. George however, has been a reminder that God does not appeal to our intellect but reveals Himself through our spirit.
This blog will include not only stories of George and his ongoing spiritual development but personal experiences and thoughts along my journey to see myself as God sees me. My prayer is that the blog will work as a conduit for the Holy Spirit to soften hearts and open eyes to the necessity of disability ministry and the importance of teaching everyone who they are in Christ regardless of ability.