A Spring of Joy

There are some Sundays where, by His grace, I am completely and fully immersed in the worship of our God. Those are the Sundays when I don’t want the service to end. Those are Sundays where it seems as if everything speaks expressly to me and the place where I am. Those are Sundays where I hang on every word spoken, prayed, preached, and sung. This past week held one of those Sundays. I didn’t want to stop singing. I didn’t want Tim to end his prayer. I didn’t want Joe to stop preaching. I didn’t want God to stop be so obviously glorified.

For all the times you sang to me
The lullabies and hymns,
When you sat by the bed and waited
As the daylight faded dim.

I continue on my quest to see the beauty in every day…

21. Watching bunnies in the yard. Awestruck. Held breaths lest she move.

22. Dishes in my sink. Evidence of God’s provision of our daily bread.

23. Sunday School crafts covering our walls.

24. Tiny hands lifted in praise with me… learning the postures and freedom of worship.

25. Bright green buds on the sidewalk underfoot pushed out by new leaves. Growth.

26. Eyes to see differently this world around me.

27. Siblings. Sweet kisses for a baby sister.

Tuesday was my bone scan. Today was my doctor appointment. Those two days felt interminable.

The bone scan is clear. We are once again praising God for His mercy to us. Please continue to pray for complete healing for me. I also found out about several small ways the chemo has negatively impacted my body. Lots of small concerns make it seem big, and I am feeling overwhelmed by the road ahead.

I can’t thank y’all enough for your prayers and encouragement. I can’t tell y’all how much your rejoicing with me means. Thank you for your love.

This has been a roller coaster week for me, and I’ve experienced the height of joy and struggled through the darkness of grief over the course of the past days. It was a wonderful weekend spent with Nat who arrived Thursday and spent a couple days with us intermingled with visits to other friends in the area. Being with Nat is so refreshing. I can be real and honest and vulnerable, and she’s not afraid of any of that. We celebrated Em’s graduation from JMU on Saturday. Now it’s only six weeks until her big wedding celebration. The rejoicing culminated on Sunday night with the ordination service for our youth director, now pastor, Tim. Tim is another dear friend to us, and it was awesome to see God’s faithfulness to direct in his life as he joyfully followed God’s calling. Bri and I were able to be on worship team for Tim’s service, and that only added to the sweetness of the evening for us. Tim is gifted and humble, and it was such a privilege to take part in his celebration.

Every morning we sit around our breakfast table and I read to my children from the Bible. There are so many things I love about this time. Time with them. Time memorizing Scripture together. Time answering the questions that overflow. Time to watch their minds and hearts embrace truth. Time for me to see God’s Word through the new eyes He’s given me… and through the eyes of my children. As I read, I am overcome by things that I’ve known since I was a child. They have a freshness the past months have burned into me.

She was a friend of a friend. We met at a Maid House college party and bonded over our hatred of the Yankees, rooting together for the Diamondbacks to take the World Series. She was a junior in college. I was pregnant with our first child. We’d run into each other every now and then over the next year. Ash was the first baby she ever held, it was at a Crusade meeting, and she was scared out of her mind. Again at a friend’s bridal shower, she took the plunge and held him. Her fears eventually subsided, and she decided she liked this kid. Not long after graduation, she joined us working with the youth leadership at our church. My role was to mentor the women leaders, she joined my Bible study, and our strange friendship began.