New Life, and Spring - BLOOM at the Lydia Center

This story of new life and transformation, is part of our 'REVIVE 2011 Spring Campaign.' For details about how you can join this campaign, check out below...

Andrea Handwerk • Lydia Center Intern

Spring is in bloom on Grace Plateau. The grass is green. The flowers are showing their buds. Life is coming forth after a long winter. Just as spring is taking its root in the creation around us it is also evident in the hearts and lives of the women here.

The other day I had the opportunity to talk with one of our residents about what the first two months in the program have been like for her. She is one who came to us from prison. As a young girl, she found she could be valued by others by acting tough and strong. The “tough girl” approach became the way that she would relate to whatever came her way, and the people in her world. She cared little for others and only looked out for her own well-being.

A little over a month ago this “tough girl” chose to surrender her life to Christ. Since then her countenance has completely changed. It has softened. This is, without a doubt, the work of the Holy Spirit in her life. A new tender part of her heart is being exposed. She is breaking free and walking in freedom for, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17).

It is not only evident to her, but also to those in our community, that she is becoming more others centered. She described this as something new and unknown for her having rarely cared what happens to people in the past. For the one who went through life being numb she is now starting to feel more than just anger well up inside her. The ways in which she would manage any kind of unwanted feelings in the past is no longer working. She shared, “I know I don’t really understand everything that’s going on inside of me, but I know that God is with me and I just have to trust Him with that.” While the newness of actually feeling a range of emotions brings a sense of being out of control, she is choosing to rest in the One who is in control.

I can’t help but reflect on the verses in Isaiah 43 where God speaks to his people of their redemption:“Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.” (v. 18, 19)

God is doing a new thing in the life his precious daughter. He is making beauty out of ashes. She has been given new eyes to see that she is valued far more beyond the constraining facade she projected as the “tough girl”. She is valued by her King simply for the beauty she is!

This Spring, we’re inviting you to revive your partnership with Water Street Ministries. Through your prayers and your giving, you can revive lives and advance God’s Kingdom.

Will you join us?
- Send a special gift this Spring. Donate online.
- We welcome your wisdom and counsel. Email us at Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org.
- Commit to pray for God’s wisdom, provision, and the organization as a whole. Sign up for our Prayer Calendar.

For more information, visit www.WaterStreetMinistries.org/Revive, email Contact@WaterStreetMinistries.org or call Keith at (717) 358-2010.