Restored Renewed
“Restored and Renewed” by Jessica Cromwel.
I walked away from everything I was raised to know when I was seventeen. For close to a decade I avoided anything to do with church or conversations about God. Honestly, I know that I still can’t fully understand everything that my parents went through for all of those years. I only know my experience: the anger and bitterness that overwhelmed me, the depression that was never far away, and the anxiety that tried to convince me I was drowning. That’s not to count the alcohol abuse, the stream of unhealthy relationships, nor the months of insomnia that preceded my first visit back to church.
I thank God for my praying parents, my praying sister and the collection of people around them that interceded for me. I cannot imagine how hard it was to stand back and watch when I wasn’t allowing God to work in my life, while still continuing to become more and more broken. Most of all I’m thankful that my family stayed consistent. They continued in the path that they had taught me. It’s because they stayed faithful that I knew exactly what was right and where to return for restoration.
June 2025 marked ten years since I was refilled with the Holy Ghost. That’s ten years since I began to allow God the access to restore me, layer by layer, into the person that He created me to be. His restoration plan is perfect because He is the original Designer and He knows exactly what work is needed! His original works of art are breathtaking, however, the originals pale in comparison to His works of restoration.
For the past four years I have walked the streets of Warsaw, Poland. All around us are restored buildings and streets that have survived numerous wars. The restoration continues today as buildings are stripped down to the framework and only then do they begin to rebuild. That’s what God does for us when we allow Him full access to tear down strongholds in our minds and heal our brokenness. Today, I am thankful that He has healed the effects of those broken years, and He has returned me to the path that He had intended me to be on. Now I share my stories with others every chance I get – for His glory! He truly restores what the locust consumed!
“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.” Joel 2:25 NKJV
3 “Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.” Jeremiah 18:3-4 NKJV.
(Information from: Ladies Prayer Int Newsletter –
UPCI Ladies Ministries – ladiesprayerinternational-aol.com@shared1.ccsend.com)
