Lively Hope

In memory of those who have passed on before us, and the One who gives us a lively hope of being reunited with them again. ♥ Happy Easter!

Tried With Fire

I learned a little bit about the ore refining process the other day and all the steps of heating and pounding it needs to go through to burn off all the impurities.  A lump of ore is valuable, and our first instinct may even be to "protect" it by keeping it the way it is.  But it's only by allowing it to pass through the fire that it can be purified and turned into something strong and useful.  When we see the impurities burning away, we might even be tempted to assume that the whole thing is useless, and throw the whole thing out rather than continue the painful refining process.  But if we will patiently keep at it, we will find something pure, strong, and valuable, "much more precious than of gold."