I went to a ladies evening at our church tonight called Joy in Every Season. It was perfect that it fell today as it is the one year anniversary of our sweet Gabriel going home to be with the Lord. It has been on my mind as the day approached, but today came and I did ok. I have thought a lot about him today and thanked the Lord for being our strength through that time. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of him at least once. Today has been a good day to reflect on all that the Lord has done in the last year and how good He is. As we remember the blessing Gabriel was to us in his short life, we also anticipate the arrival of a new baby. We sang tonight about how God "gives and takes away" and it rang so true in my heart. The speakers talked about finding joy in the midst of our circumstances and looking ahead at the hope God has for us. I thought back to our circumstances a year ago and the despair we felt in losing the baby. But we clung to the Lord's promises and His hope and He got us through each day.
The scripture in the title, Psalm 30:5 is so true for me. There was much weeping but joy came and in 3 weeks we will meet our newest family member. I am so thankful for all the Lord has done, how He has provided, His immense love for us, and the work He has done in our lives. I am reminded of the Psalm I prayed through during that time, Psalm 34. Verses 17 and 18 say, "The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." That Psalm speaks to me now even as I look back over all that He has done. He knew the plans that He had for me and I am so thankful that I clung to that and had faith to rest in where He would lead me. Because one year later I am sitting at the computer feeling a healthy, strong baby move around inside of me. God is so good and He brought us joy in the morning!
