Life

Life.

That is your specialty, Lord.

Creating, knitting.

Weaving together all life.

You form every cell, every organ, and every personality.

You stand as the epicenter of our world,

Conducting.

Holding every life in your mighty hand.

You orchestrate every earthly existence,

From Adam’s first breath,

To our final trumpet call.

Praise you, Lord, for you give life!

Once, you created life within my body. 

Tiny beginnings, masterminded in heaven.

I carried this new life.

I carried Him,

Or Her.

I carried your gift of life. 

I felt your fresh presence every waking moment,

I walked in constant prayer.

I tasted a greater love:

Selfless, giving.

That kind of love that comes from you. 

This new life welded our marriage:

Tighter, stronger.

New bonds of sacrifice taught us agape.

You blessed our vows with a deeper consecration,

With a tiny heart forming, ready to beat. 

We slid into the clothing of parenthood,

Trying on our soon-to-be roles.

Preparation for Mama and Pop.

We shared the joyful news with others,

Praising you as the Giver of all blessings.

We began to pray as one,

Husband, wife.

For health and growth,

For your guidance in this next chapter.

And Lord, you listened.

As you always do.

You listened with bigger plans,

Plans to grow our marriage,

To weave a third strand into our vows

You orchestrated our next chapter.

On August 19^th, 2013, we received the news.

A phone call ripped open the tsunami.

The doctor’s slow, remorseful voice rung in my ear.

I curled in my couch, in our empty house,

But not alone.

Nearing the day’s end, we reunited,

Mama and Pop.

And you held us,

You wrapped our hugging arms in your love,

You were there when words were too hard.

You were there.

Our Great Comforter,

Whispering ‘Trust Me’.

Though this tiny, new heart

Was no longer beating,

You gave this child your gift of life.

Ultimate life.

Eternal.

Praise you, Lord, for you take away!

Your every decision is wise, perfect,

And without error.

Our every suffering is not in vain. 

All life, whether long or brief,

Points to you.

Our summer ended by giving you the first-fruits of our lament,

Praising you for the welding,

For the bringing-to-life of our marital covenant.

The seasons changed,

And you stayed with us,

Guiding us, growing us,

Answering our prayers.

And now, a year has passed,

A tiny speck in your eternal timeline,

And you continue to give us life!

Your Spirit,

Deep within.

Today, I come to you, Lord

With open arms and an empty womb.

I may never know motherhood on this side of eternity.

But I do know

That you are holding a special treasure for me

In your dwelling place.

And you still have plans for me,

A hope and a future.

So, I set my eyes heavenward,

An eternal perspective,

With peace placed in my heart,

Peace that surpasses all worldly understanding.

Because you are my God.

You are my King, my Joy, my Strength.

You are my creator.

Praise you, Lord, for you carry me into life!

Seek Joy!

Hey everyone!  I’m so excited about how these Joy Cards are coming along nicely… I can’t even stand it!  For those of you who don’t know, I’m in the process of creating something big, really BIG.  The story goes like this…

Last March, God planted in my heart an idea to create an ADVENT CALENDAR: I envisioned a daily, family-friendly graphic-based devotional that could act as a quick discussion at the breakfast table, or could provide opportunities to go deeper into personal journaling & worship time – for the first 25 days of December.  Though it was spring, I knew I needed to get started soon because a.) when the Lord calls ya, it’s best to jump in head first!, and b.) I knew deep down that this project needed lots and lots of my time.  The problem was, I didn’t have a clue as to how to go about tackling this charge.  I simply wanted to abide.

Oddly enough, while joining with my lovely ladies of BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) one random Monday in March, we were asked to sing the song ‘Joy to the World’ (It was March, people!  Only God can orchestrate something that awesome).  I poured over the words on the page, understanding them more clearly than ever before.  I realized just how powerful that song really is!  Later that night, I re-read the lyrics, circling the biblical principles that popped out in the song, which hovered around 25!  Amazing.  I realized that I was given the ‘glue’ to hold the project together; I ran with it.

Soon thereafter, I shared the idea with a dear friend, Marcia, who has years of bible knowledge under her belt; I knew I needed her wisdom and discernment in sticking to the plan:  break down the song into 25 principles, attach a verse or two to each principle, then develop a life-giving question that causes the reader to think critically about that verse & apply it to his/her day during the advent season.  Marcia was on board and accepted the challenge.  Amazingly, we both separately broke down the lyrics in virtually the same places.  We came back together in awe of how seamless God’s plan was for this project so far.

Throughout the spring and summer, I continued inching my way through each card.  Drawing 25 graphics seemed intimidating, but drawing one from-time-to-time?  I could handle that.  By mid-July, the project began to develop a personality; I had created a color scheme and began to weave themes into the graphics.  But one step of the process remained: I needed to know if the reader would experience these Joy Cards like a true devotional.  I decided to use the month of August – the first 25 days –to pull out personal conviction and devotion.  So, I bought a crisp, new notebook and began to journal.

So far, I’m amazed at just how powerful Immanuel, God With Us really is – right in the midst of summertime.  In the heat of August, you can still experience the Joy of this powerful phenomenon: a savior.  The gospel is never idle to those who are seeking.

This morning, the 7^th day of the devotional asks of me, “Today, how will you share the joyful news of a savior?”  I took that as my cue; I need to share a bigger slice of these Joy Cards with you, not necessarily to show their progress, but to share the impact I’ve felt while knee-deep in creating them.  I feel compelled to share how the ‘joyful news of a savior’ is truly year-round.  That’s something worth sharing.  Yes, I’m sharing how these Joy Cards are developing, each individually crafted with a graphic, a song verse, a bible verse, and an application question.  But more importantly, I want to share what’s developing in my heart: Joy to the World.  What a better way to think of our savior than the pure joy that is with us, always.

(To follow the progress of these Joy Cards into the advent season, search #joycards on my Instagram feed or Facebook page.  EnJOY!)