Faith, Suffering, Worth

Nothing Is Wasted – Finding Beauty, Healing and Redemption from Pain

One of the hardest days of my life was May 16, 2009 – the day we had scheduled to get married and didn’t. We had booked the church and reception hall. I was supposed to be walking down the aisle.

Instead, I lived across the country from my fiancé. I was in my fifth month of therapy battling to get back to the girl he had asked to marry and the life we had known.

That night, I was overcome with grief. I was angry we hadn’t rescheduled the wedding. That night, I doubted my worth.

We all walk through dark days we wish had never happened. Here’s a bit more about mine:

I was honored to share this talk and three others for an online healing retreat alongside six other great speakers going up tomorrow (sign up here).

No matter how tattered your threads are, hand them to Him. Take your threads of loss, doubt, betrayal, and mistakes and give them to our good God – our loving God – that wills your good and happiness.

There is no part of your story God cannot redefine. There is nothing - absolutely NOTHING - too broken for God to redeem and reweave into something beautiful. Click To Tweet

Many points in my recovery we didn’t know if having children would be feasible. Today, filming this talk took some 60 interrupted takes :/ due to potty breaks, snack requests, and sister quarrels from our three healthy, beautiful little girls. God works in His time and in his way.

Here’s more information on the retreat:

“All the retreat talks talks are pre-recorded and everything will be released & available on August 6th. You can watch, listen, or download the talks wherever you are and whenever you have the time over the next few weeks.

Each talk also comes with the transcript in case you like to do some highlighting. And a study guide, which is just 3-5 short questions that build on the materials and, we hope, will help you to reflect more, and pray more, on what the talk was about

We hear from a lot of people that they do these retreats with their families, friends, Bible studies, or R.C.I.A. groups. But you could also do it on your own!”

Annie Deddens

God is not finished with you yet, friends.

I’m praying for anyone walking through a hard season trying to see God in their mess this week.

If you or anyone you know is walking through a hard season, check out/share this retreat for more inspiring talks to heal, move forward, and grow closer to Christ.