A Thrill of Hope

A Thrill of Hope the Weary Soul Rejoices

I remember something I heard once from the movie Facing the Giants where the coach tells the players "We're going to praise him when we win, and we're going to praise him when we lose." We are praising God. We praised him when it seemed like everything was falling apart. We praised him when Mark was sick. We praised him when I broke my pelvis. We praised him through Samantha's life and death. We praised him through Gabie's burns. And God is faithful. 

We praise him for healing. Mark's health is fully restored. He has been working two jobs for the last few months. He continued his work at 1st Choice Hospice while also serving a vacancy at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Brenham, Texas. He will now transition into being the full time pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Brenham as they extended him the call and he has accepted. 

We praise him for endurance. Even after having a plate put in to help my bones heal almost three years ago, I was able to give birth naturally and continue running, completing a 5K this December and getting 1st place in my age group.

We praise Him for growth. Eliya has grown so much both in height and maturity this year. She was excited and honored to stand up as a godparents for Joanna at her baptism.

We praise Him for comfort. God has healed Gabie's burns extensively. She still bears the scars, but has lost no mobility. She has endured months of compression garments that have aided in minimizing scars and maximizing mobility.

We praise Him for joy. Rachel's antics and fun personality have often brought a smile when we simply wanted to cry. She also is a wonderful reader and reads with great expression and joy.

We praise Him for love. Micaiah is always ready with a hug and often comes in at night and asks for her "nuggles". It warmed my heart to watch her interact with Nana this afternoon blowing her both a hug and kiss.

We praise him for new life. God has brought a beautiful little miracle, Joanna Peace, into our family on September 6.  We are amazed every day at the beauty of life and love in a precious baby. 

We were a family torn and battered by life's storms. God is faithful. His faithfulness does not depend on our faithfulness to him. After months and years of wandering and wondering about what He had in store for us we are overwhelmed with His goodness to us. 

2013 has been a blessing to our family. A thrill of hope in a world on it's knees. If perhaps your 2013 has been something else, let your weary soul rejoice in that tiny baby come down to save us two thousand Decembers ago.....for yonder breaks a new and glorious mourn!