Deborah Lovett - Arise Out of the Ashes

ARISE Out of theAshes

A Story of Redemption, Restoration, and Forgiveness

by Deborah Lovett

Copyright 2013 by Deborah Lovett

All rights reserved. No part of thispublication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical,photocopy, recording, or otherwiseexcept for brief quotations inprinted reviews, without the prior written permission of thepublisher.

Unless otherwise stated, all Bibletranslations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version(NIV), Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Usedby permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Other passages arefrom The Message 1993 by Eugene Peterson and The King James Bible (KJV)

Cover design by Brother atFiverr.com

ISBN:978-0-9890225-5-2

Published by EABooks,Inc.

First printing 2013

ARISE Out of theAshes

by DeborahLovett

Copyright 2013 DeborahLovett

Smashwords Edition

ISBN: 978-0-9890225-5-2

Dedicated to all the people who have been througha catastrophic disaster and lost their world as they knew it. Mayyou find restoration, redemption, and forgiveness as you arisethrough it with Jesus.

Arise, shine, for yourlight has come, and the glory of the Lord rises uponyou.

Isaiah 60:1

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Almighty God forteaching me how to ARISE in Him!

Thanks to my cowboy husband forsticking with me through the ashes, for encouraging me to take thismessage to the world, but mostly for being the funniest, hardestworking man I know. I am in love with you now andforevermore.

Thanks to my children, Cristahl andTimothy, for arising out of the ashes and showing the world justhow resilient and victorious you are. Crissy, you are literally themost loving person I know. I wish I were more like you. Timmy, youare a mighty man of God. He has great things in store foryou.

To my mom and dad: thanks for beingthe best parents a girl could ask for. I love you both so much. Tomy sisters: Colleen, Vicki and Sherri thanks for yoursupport.

Sincerest thanks to Donna Partow forhelping me craft my story into a message worth reading. Thank youfor walking through the fire with me, telling me the truth, andconsistently encouraging me to keep the faith and keep fighting.You are my best friend in the world. Thanks for keeping itreal.

To Jane Smith who prayed with meweekly without fail, cooked, kept our dog, and did anything elseshe saw we needed, at a moments notice. Can a person have two bestfriends? Because I do! Thank you, Jane.

I wish I could name every person andchurch that helped us, but to the many who prayed, gave, andencouraged us through the process of rebuilding and restorationGodbless you from the bottom of our hearts!

A Note FromDeborah

Dear One,

Disastrous circumstancesand trials will come in the form of foreclosure, divorce,miscarriage, death, suicide, cancer, fire, hurricanes, and floods ... just to name a few. Sometimes it is just the million littlethings that add up and make it feel like you are going through aWorld War. Some of you have experienced one or more in the past,others are currently going through trials, and all of us willexperience them as the day of the Lord grows closer. ManyScriptures in the Bible tell of coming destruction, but my goal inthis book is to prepare you for it, see you through it, and offeryou hope and encouragement. Wouldnt it be awesome to go throughtough times without losing your peace?

I am totally truthful and authenticwith you about where I failed and where I had victory as I wentthrough one of the most trying times of my life. My prayer is thatyou will be ready the next time a trial comes your way. Beware ofthe pitfalls, but more importantly, discover the way to arise outof your own ashes and become more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus!May His Kingdom come!

CHAPTER 1

DisasterStrikes

It was another gorgeoussummer evening on our Ohio ranch. My husband, a weekend cowboy andamateur gourmet chef, had enjoyed a long horseback ride and wasfixing our Saturday evening meal. He was preparing swordfish andsome type of mushroom risotto in the French country kitchen that Ihad dreamed of having all my life. It wasnt just my favorite roomof the house; it was everyones favorite because we always gatheredthere.

I was sitting crossed-legged on thestool at the counter, half-heartedly watching him as I typed on mylaptop. I had just sent an email to a friend asking for prayerbecause, I felt a little depressed. Little did I know the bottomwas about to fall out. Thats when it hit... an earthshaking,horrific explosion. It would be the end of my familys life as weknew it.

The explosion had shaken the entirehouse. Later, I heard that it shook the entire cul-de-sac next toour ranch. It still shakes everyone who hears about it. Usually thepeople it shakes most are the ones who need to be shaken...comfortable people who think such things can never happen to them.People like me.

My husband ran to thegarage, opened the door, saw a blanket of black smoke, and quicklyshut the door. He yelled, Fire! Everybody out! As we ran out, hepicked up the portable phone. I was the only other person whograbbed anything. I guess womans intuition kicked in as I pickedup the essentials: my purse, my laptop, and a book that I had beenlooking at that very day titled Sisters . It had been given to me by mysister, Bridgett, whom I miss so much. The book was filled withcards she had given me, so I was being extremely careful not todrop any of them.

We stood a couple yardsaway from the fire, watching and waiting anxiously for the firemento arrive. I was thinking, It will be allright. The firemen will contain the fire to the garage and put itout. Within minutes the heat becameoverwhelming, so we had to move back another several feet. Iremember reluctantly moving back in increments of ten feet or so,very s-l-o-w-l-y, each time knowing in the back of my mind that thechances of our getting back in the house were decreasing as theloss of our possessions was increasing.

What I did not know then, that I knownow, is that fire doubles itself every minute. My husband continuedto call 911, not once, not twice, but perhaps even four times,explaining the emergency. The golden yellow, florescent orange, andblood-red arms of the towering inferno reached for the sky, whilethe heat grew more and more intense. Still, much to our regret, nofiremen.

Do you know what you thinkwhen your home is burning to the ground? You think, The firemen will show up and put it out. Period. Thats what you think. Thats how life issupposed to work. Everyone has their job and if they do it, theneverything runs like a charm. (So Pollyanna of me, I know.) Wetrust those who have the gifts and talents we lack to do the jobswe cannot. That is what I thought: thefiremen will come to the rescue and we will all be back in our ownbeds by nightfall.

Then, suddenly, the reality of whatwas unfolding hit me. My home might burn to the ground. I need torun in and get whatever I can. But as I ran toward the house, Ifelt my entire body go flying into midair as another huge explosionhit, then another, then another. Every vehicle we owned was in thatfour-car garage: three cars and two ranch utility vehicles. Eachexploding gas tank and tire joined the symphony of blasts, notwanting to be left out. All of our appliances were gas. Boom! Therewent the washer and dryer. Boom! There went the gas double-oven andsubzero refrigerator. The grill, the griddle, and the six-burnerstoveit sounded like a war zone. Terrifying explosion afterterrifying explosion, each one shaking the ground beneath our feetas it blew flames sky-high. Then the ammunition my husband kept inthe house began to chime in, sending out the message, Stay thehell out of my way.

Thankfully we were all out of thehouse, and so was our 135-pound golden retriever, Frappuccino, whowas absolutely always in the garage... except on this particularnight. God spared him. Thank you, God.