My husband and I bought a fixer upper home this summer that had once been featured on HGTV’s Extreme Backyards. As the days poured into weeks, I longed for HGTV to return to help me restore what I suspected was once a beautiful tropical paradise. I power washed everything from the screened in porch to stone walls. But the most dramatic change came from a stone walkway leading from the patio to a three-foot stone waterfall. What had once been a usable path had become hidden with dirt, debris, and black mold. As I held the power washer in place and green moss spewed across my legs, I was astonished at the beautiful display of rock formations. Continuing to spray water unveiled stones deeply hidden in the earth’s surface. The architect who designed this backyard had actually had a plan after all. He or she envisioned beautiful walkways, but somehow that vision had gotten off course.

We’re a lot like the stones. We’re all a mess. Blindsided by hurt, failure, or rejection, we get off course, masking our wounds so no one can see the real “us”. Until one day, a person or event forces us to clean up the mess.

“Blindsided by hurt, failure, or rejection, we get off course, masking our wounds so no one can see the real us.”

Some of us will hold on tight, not wanting to see what’s underneath. Much like the weeds that grew tall between the rocks, they held on much tighter than the moss as water came crashing down on their world. The black soil that had once been home to the weeds sprayed in every direction as the weeds refused to let go. In the end, the roots has nothing left to hold on to, and eventually washed away.

Without a strong foundation, we too wash away like a seashell at the ocean’s edge. We float back and forth in the waves without purpose. But once we decide to clean up the mess, what’s unveiled is a beautiful you, full of purpose, and on a road to recovery. A beautiful gem stone, washed clean. Are you ready to reveal your beauty underneath?

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