Restoring the Sanctuary We're Given

As a child, I spent many of my summers and holidays in Apple Grove, West Virginia, on my grandparents' farmland along the banks of the Ohio River. To a little girl, it felt like the whole world belonged to exploration. I ran barefoot through open fields, climbed hills until sunset, played house in corn cribs, ate vegetables straight from the garden, picked berries off the vine, and gathered around meals that came directly from the land.

Not far from that farm sat a small country church called Potts Chapel. For as long as I can remember, I was captivated by it — a quiet cemetery surrounding a little white building, lovingly maintained even though services hadn't been held there in decades. I would wander among the weathered gravestones, many dating back to the early 1900s, wondering about the lives behind them. Who were they? What prayers had they whispered within those chapel walls?

Looking back, I realize those summers planted seeds that would later grow into my passion for health, stewardship, and living close to God's creation. Years later, that same passion led me to help establish Potts Chapel Restoration, so this small piece of Appalachian and Christian heritage would have a lasting, legal way to be cared for.

But restoration doesn't stay contained to a building. Scripture tells us our bodies are temples — sanctuaries entrusted to our care. If I believed a weathered chapel was worth restoring, I had to believe the sanctuary of our own body, mind, and spirit was worth restoring too. One calling led to the other.

That conviction became The Restoration Project, a 90-day faith-based health and wellness workbook. It walks readers through six Restoration Steps — Nutrition, Movement, Rest, Removing Risky Substances, Stress and Peace, and Community — each paired with Scripture and space to reflect and write. It isn't about chasing perfection. It's about taking honest, faithful steps toward becoming better stewards of what we've been given: restoring our health, and in doing so, restoring our heritage.

This project is presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, the official state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily represent those of the West Virginia Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.