Life in Pieces: Finding beauty in the ashes

There was once a girl who fell in love with a boy deep in the heart of Georgia. They got married on July 20, 2002. They were young & clueless but so in love. As they exchanged vows on a beautiful, hot summer day, they never could have imagined all that lay ahead of them. Eventually, they had a house, two kids, & a dog. It was the American Dream. However, they also had a big secret. The disease of addiction was pulsating through their family & threatened to destroy them. Suddenly that bride was a wife, mother, & business woman. She was also the master of covering up & keeping up. She covered up her husband's addiction & made sure they were keeping up appearances. The two of them kept all those plates spinning for years, until eventually all the plates came crashing down. One day, the husband left for a long-term treatment program & this one seemed different than all the others. It was a long, hard year but God never stopped working. God rescued an addict, redeemed a life, & restored a family. It was beauty from ashes & one of the most beautiful seasons of their lives. During that season of separation, God sent the husband & the wife the exact same message during the storm. The message from God was "Let me be enough." He looked down at the addict & said "What if she leaves you & you never see your kids again? Will you go back to using or will you surrender & let me be enough?" Then God looked to the wife & said "What about you? Life is certainly not going as you planned so will you get angry & resentful or will you surrender & let me be enough?"In His power, they both surrendered & God has not only been enough but He has been doing immeasurably more in their lives ever since.