The title A New Life from the Ashes comes from the picture of a forest after a fire. When a fire moves through the woods, it can consume everything in its path. Trees, dead animals, and everything around them can be reduced to ashes.
But the story does not end when the smoke clears.
When the ashes cool, there is still hope. In time, a new sprout can push through what was left behind. New life can begin where everything once appeared to be destroyed.
That image speaks deeply to the message of my book and to the way I understand my own life. There were painful experiences, losses, family struggles, grief, anger, and memories that were difficult to carry. At different points, the past could feel like something that would always define the future.
But my faith changed the way I looked at those experiences. I came to believe that God can bring new life from the places in our lives that have been hurt and burned.
For me, the title represents hope after hardship. It represents the possibility of forgiveness, redemption, faith, and a new beginning.
The ashes are part of the story, but they do not have to be the end of it.