FINDING BEAUTY IN ASHES

ANGELS SENT IN OUR DARKEST HOUR

Author: Mary Hilger

When John and Mary Hilger set off for their boat cruise on the Rhine River, they thought they knew the destination—Germany, how they’d get there, and what they’d see and do. 

But God had another idea. God did not say “yes” or “not now.” God said, I have something better in mind for you.

Their plans were diverted in a single solitary moment. Their lives changed abruptly from what was expected or planned. This life-changing event occurred when John collapsed on the boat their first day in Amsterdam.

Mary’s struggles always seem to be worse when she was alone, but then God said people onto the scene. “Taking on our humanity,” God embraced her.

Mary and her six daughters met people whose “habits of the heart” wrapped them in compassion when they needed it most. These people carried Mary and her family through days and weeks of emotional woundedness.

Outwardly, the Hilger family expressed their interior sorrow. God traded out mourning and ashes, and left in their stead a glorious mantle, the oil of gladness, a crown of beauty.