The past few years of my life have been filled with untold endings.
The end of my marriage. The closing of my ministry. The loss of my home, job, community…
The endings can be so obvious that it’s often easy for me to overlook the new beginnings. But they’re there. When I take the time and make the choice to look for them — to dust for God’s fingerprints — I see them. Plain as day.
The beginning of my heart re-awakening. The launch of a new journey. The start of a new home, job, community…
I am reminded once again that the new life of spring actually begins with the dying leaves of autumn.
And I’m brought back to The Beginning.
“There was evening, and there was morning—the first day.”
While we usually picture our day starting with the sunrise, God created it to begin in the darkness of night. Though it seems like an ending, the night — with all its bleakness and uncertainty — is really just the beginning…
What endings are you experiencing right now
where you need to dust for God’s fingerprints of new life?
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
This really rings true as I read it this morning. The endings can be so big, so painful, sometimes to abrupt, that they overshadow the new things that begin even immediately. I’ve moved to a new place and there are so many beginnings happening all around me but some days the endings are all I see.
I love what you pointed out from the beginning of creation – the day begins in the night. That’s an image to hold on to.
it’s why i’ve grown to love autumn so much… the beautiful colors help me see that there is beauty in death and change, because of the new life it holds… even though we won’t see it for quite some time yet…
“dust for God’s fingerprints of new life”. . . i love the picture that brings to mind. His prints are on everything. we just sometimes have to look a bit harder for them. but they are there. and He delights in the revealing.
loved reading this on this particular morning. thanks for sharing your heart!
steph
i need to physically remind myself to dust for His fingerprints… i wish it came more naturally than it does, but for now i will keep reminding… keep choosing… keep looking…
Very Nice Alece.
Your dusting for fingerprints is the best word picture I have heard in a long, long time. Sounds like Romans 8:28. Somehow, even when we can’t figure it out, God is moving life forward for our good. Mind Blowing and comforting all at the same time. Thanks
thanks, chris. praying for you today.
So refreshing and true. Grit and Glory is such a perfect name for your blog.. I like the grit that gets down into the crevices and doesn’t just “swiffer” the surface.
i never imagined when i picked the name 6 years ago, how much it would ring true in every area of my life…
thank you for the sweet encouragement today, jana.
Whoa. This line: “While we usually picture our day starting with the sunrise, God created it to begin in the darkness of night.”
That is powerful imagery right there. Love hearing more of your heart, friend!
it blows my mind when i think of it that way.
love to you, leigh! see you soon…
Your words – an arrow pointed straight to my heart – hit the bulls-eye. Beautifully illustrated. Subtly expressed. Graciously expressing the mercy of God. A re-awakening.
I’m dusting for God’s fingerprints too. And, in the darkness I see the Light!
Bless you.
“in the darkness I see the Light!” yes and amen!
Hmmmm….second time this week that I’ve heard that, Biblically, day starts with the nighttime. Second time this week, after never really hearing that ever before. I love how God layers His truth to be sure that I’m getting something! Thanks for the beauty of your heart and words!
that is awesome, leslie! God definitely has a word for you in there…
Beautiful, Alece -you always leave me thinking….
thank you, sweet sarah…
Yes.
And beautifully said.
you make me smile, anneth.
I read the first two sentences quietly to myself then I had to stop and start over, but this time reading them aloud for my husband to hear them with me. His eyes quickly looking up from his computer after hearing your words “Dust for Gods fingerprints.” Without knowing it you have spoken straight at our hearts hitting us in the spot we have felt such a void. Thank you for such deep transparency….you are part of a very rare breed of people. I pray my husband and I are part of that breed as well. How can others be set free if we aren’t transparent in our own journeys? Thank you, thank you! So encouraged by you to continue this path of sharing my story.
i’ve read your comment 3 times… thank you, for your words and your heart.
Alece, you are an amazing soul. The writing here reveals God’s fingerprints;-)
Change may well be the only constant, except for the Rock of ages, and that old hymn we sang back when, “on Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand…”
His mercies are new every morning, and this new day I read:
“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? ~Isaiah 43:19
i am clinging to that passage…
Me too, friend…me too!
Love your road to no where pic…made me smile.
Endings are hard. The tension and pull between what was and what is and what is to come is just hard. Filled with grief as there is road behind traveled if i turned around, and something at the end of the road in from. But what about the tension of where i am standing on the road right now. That is the hardest for me. Lots of road talk…hehe
Starting everything new. hoping it feels less new soon.
that was so for you! i’m glad you spotted it…
we both feel like we’re on a road to nowhere, don’t we? at least behind us, we can see where the road goes… but in front of us… no end in sight. destination unknown. it’s as though i keep hearing Sydney say: “Recalculating…”
starting everything new — all at once — is so overwhelmingly difficult. i am rowing hard for you in this season. and i’m grateful for you in my journey, to know we are tackling this together.
i can’t wait for things to feel less new for both of us.
Alece,
This is beautiful and moving and encouraging. We’re uprooting our family and moving back to Phoenix–in faith. We don’t have jobs yet (and I’ve quit the one I had here) believing this is where God is calling us. I believe as we step forward in faith, we’ll see God’s provision. It’ll be like walking on water. We need to keep our eyes on Jesus.
Blessings to you, friend. God has new beginnings for you that will result in much happier endings than you could ever imagine.
Renee
“God desires to refract His perfect light via the broken, prismatic shards of our lives.” ~Makoto Fujimura
Smooth glass does not refract. It does not bend the light into a brilliant panoply of color. But broken glass does. God uses our battered, wounded places to project His glory all around us in a mesmerizing display of His splendor.
You, my dear, are quite glorious.
Here’s to new mercies…
Your writings paint a beautiful picture of Gods purposes and hope through the pain of life. Thank you for sharing. You are an amazing and beautiful person.
Beautifully said!
I am so thankful that these last few days He has shown me glimmers of hope (ie., an opportunity, an email from someone who can help me get closer to my goal) just as I began to feel doubt… again! I haven’t always needed affirmation in life. I like to think on more days than not I live with the mantra, “I Trust in You Jesus.” But recently, I think He knows I may need it now. I feel blessed to feel Him showing me… I am still here, I have never left.
This is beautiful and heartwrenching and oh how I have a love/hate relationship with endings and beginnings…I like my steady and loyal and consistent and faithful. But I am thankful ever so thankful for hindsight and seeing where He’s brought me and for remembering how Paul set out on a journey with wants, but ended knowing that wherever God placed Him he had all he needed and could please God in that moment.
psst. I’m so excited to hear more about all of the new in your life!
love that i get to watch you on your journey. and im excited for you, sis!
So beautifully written…. It is like the saying “Every beginning comes from some other beginning’s end”! Just like you, I have had many endings over the last 2 1/2 years. However, the beginnings that God has given me have been truly unbelievable… He is such an Amazing God who delights in showering us with His love and blessings. As I look back through the uncertainty, the brokenness and the pain, His fingerprints were everywhere helping to lead and guide me to where I am today.
Evening comes before the morning… and it is always darkest just before dawn. (both in reality and metaphorically speaking) We have to just keep trusting Him to shine brightly in each of our new beginnings!
I can honestly say, I’ve never sat for a moment and thought about the day beginning in darkness and yet it’s such a comforting thought.
Wow! This blog entry is so awesome! I love the visuals you use here…visuals always speak to me the most and hit me the hardest. I’ve believed for some time now that dark strokes are painted all across our lives so that we can appreciate the Light when it finally bleeds in. As I’ve read more in your blog I can’t help but feel a lot of excitement for you, Alece and the journey God has you on…it’s brought me so much hope in my own journey! Thank you!
Alece, you communicate deep truths with deceptive simplicity! Thank you for the reminder that God works night & day. I will dust for His fingerprints on my children today and hopefully leave a few more in the process.
“While we usually picture our day starting with the sunrise, God created it to begin in the darkness of night.”
Oh…these words…this post…what a reminder!!
I NEED to remember this!
hauntingly beautiful and oh so nourishing
and I thank you for the authentic beauty
of these life-giving words:)
-Jennifer