Alaina's Story

As I sit here and reflect on my testimony and my time at Restoration Ranch Texas, my heart is filled with deep gratitude. It was truly a DIVINE appointment in a season where I felt the chill of a long winter of grief. In just two years I had the passing of my boys father, my sister, and a friend I deeply loved, the loss of my career, my home and the custody of my 3 children. And through all the loss, my physical, mental and emotional health was rapidly declining— all of these losses brought me to my knees feeling utterly alone and lost. I remember looking back on my life back and seeing only loss, only failure, only pieces that seemed too shattered to ever become whole again. I thought my story was over — that what was broken would stay broken, that what was lost would stay gone, that what was ruined could never be redeemed. But the Lord was the Author of my story and He doesn’t throw away torn pages. He led me to RRTX- to a place of peace and safety. He picked up the pen, He sat with me in the wreckage, and He started to write again — not erasing the pain, but transforming it. What I thought was the end became the beginning of something I never could have imagined. He took the ruins that my life was in and He built a redemption story. He brought about beauty from ashes. He took what the enemy meant for harm and He turned it into good. I held onto my faith in that season and in the stillness, God met me. It was at Restoration Ranch TX where I was reminded that *Joy* is not something dictated by our circumstances. It is a deep wholeness, a steady peace that only comes from abiding in Christ. I was reminded that when the Master Gardener prunes, He does so with love. Pruning doesn’t mean we’ve done anything wrong. His vision sees what we cannot: that one branch can become three, that loss can make room for growth, and that surrender can birth new life. 

I want to thank my sisters in Christ at RRTX for their constant prayers, their presence, compassion, and faithfulness to me during my time in the program. They may not have known the depth of my grief when I arrived, but their love was the quiet fire that kept me warm. I hope that my testimony brings some encouragement to other women to trust the Gardener’s hand, knowing He is cultivating beauty even in the brokenness.

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the Lord.” — Jeremiah 30:17

Joyfully serving my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ,

Alaina