there may be crying for the night....but JOY comes in the morning light!

Dad with his beautiful bride...

me with my beautiful groom and the father of my growing 'blessing'...

I am sure that there's a bible verse that says that. I am quite convinced that blessings are even more treasured after a time of suffering or loss. When one loses something special or experiences a time of pain, and passes through the 'valley', then the mountain becomes even sunnier and more beautiful. At least, I think that is the way God intended it to be. Maybe that is why salvation seems even more wonderful after you realise what an awful sinner you are and how much you don't deserve what you got in Christ. If you think you are pretty 'OK' on your own merits, then the message of the cross is a 'pity' at the very least and an 'injustice' at most! But if you have found yourself lost or without hope and then God breaks in on your life, you are very unlikely to ever be the same. Your days will be filled with thanksgiving, your afternoons with praise and your evenings with peace.

If you were without food, you will appreciate food so much more when you finally get it. If you were starved of love, you will lap it up when it comes pouring in. If you were lonely and alone, you will radiate in the warmth of another's company.

Maybe that is why I see such joy in my father's face when I see his wedding pictures...more than the fact of 2 friends becoming 1 flesh...it marks the end of an era of suffering in his life....and in hers. It is like spring after winter....the cold dry ground breaks open with signs of life which we almost thought would never appear again. Maybe that's why I count every day a blessing with this little one growing in my womb. Like Hannah who prayed and cried before God, I also wanted to know the blessing of motherhood for many years. How many tears did I cry...how many prayers did I pray...only God knows. But in HIS time, after the suffering had ended, he showered me with amazing blessings...way beyond what I could have ever imagined when I prayed all those prayers in the past. So even in my 'pain' of morning sickness or the 'stress' of a bulging belly...I count it all joy...cuz I have walked the journey that took me through the valley. God is good and his love endures forever. His ways are past finding out (understanding). He has a plan that is beyond what we see in our little 'screen print' of the here and now. But contentment is one of the hardest things to master. St Paul said he had mastered it...how to be content in times of blessing and in times of loss...how to be content when full or when empty. I think it is all too easy to look at things we don't have right NOW that we want to have....and feel unhappy. But remember where you came from...look back over life's journey from time to time and count your many blessings. Remember the hard times only long enough to make the present times shine even brighter. Remember what you lost only long enough to make what you've gained more brilliant. Thank God for his salvation, his provision, his treasures, his blessings EVERY DAY! HE deserves our thanks...He is sooo good!