A God Who Gives

One week ago, Dan and I were laying on our boat deck, joking, dreaming, and laughing with a hint of giddiness, of what it would be like to have our own kids.

That dream is now a reality and one week later, it is still hard to comprehend that THIS is our reality.

I still tear up. I still am just in awe of what God has done. All of the congratulations, the excitement, all of the love. We are completely overwhelmed and just humbled that God would choose us, mere humans, to show Himself in ways we never imagined. Inconceivable because our faith wouldn’t have been able to handle it. Really. God knew He had to grow us through loss first.

Today in church we sang the song “Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord”.

As I saw the lyrics come up on the screen, I couldn’t help but think of the journey. My mind immediately flash-backed to when we became a family of 2 again, all too quickly in 2012. The chorus “You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME…”

Tears filled my eyes. The thoughts of losing yet so fresh, but the reality of life within, so miraculous. God has chosen to GIVE. I folded my hands and laid them on my stomach, with eyes shut, as I got lost in the words. Lost in who God is. Lost in the moment of our new reality. Lost in my love for my God who never lets go.

A song that too often brought the pain of grief and loss back to mind, yet quietly reminding me to never give up because “blessing the name of the Lord” is what we live for.

Blessing the name of the Lord would not be as heart-filling and as faith-altering, if it wasn’t for the reality of loss first. Blessing the Lord’s name is easy in the giving process – when we receive what we think is “right” and how life should be. But it took struggles and utter tears, to realize that God’s sovereign plan of even taking away, is really what is perfect.

Because it is in the taking away, that we understand God’s ability to GIVE. We wouldn’t understand gifts unless we understood what it meant to not have.

Whatever season of life you may be in, remember GOD DOES GIVE. We may never understand His timing, but that is not for us to understand. It is for us to understand His unfailing love for us and His desire to make us more like Him.

Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord.