Mother's Day- a little late

I meant to post this on Sunday, but I got a little self-conscious... what's prompting me to post it tonight, however, is the desire that God receive all of the glory for the work He has done in our lives over the past years. Greater than my desire for self-protection, is my desire that all people would know that God is good and does good- in times of sorrow and in times of rejoicing!

I can honestly say that these past years have been, at the same time, the most painful and the most precious. Now that we’ve begun the adoption process, there is much less pain with our infertility… but we don’t have to go back very far to remember the intense grieving and loss that we’ve gone through. Even more significant though than the feelings of loss, was the way we experienced the nearness of the Lord and the tender mercy that He showed to us during that time.

To highlight that point, I remember one time, about a year ago, when we thought we had finally gotten pregnant. I went for a walk and prayed to the Lord, begging that even if he did allow us to conceive, that he would stay as near as He was in our suffering. More important to me than the “hoping for children”, was the “hoping for the nearness of the Lord.” Month by month, through the disappointments and failed test after failed test, I had learned to hide myself away in God, and to find in Him comfort, contentment, and joy. I feared that once the monthly reminders were gone, I might grow cold or forget the sweetness of the Lord. Well, it wasn’t the Lord’s plan for us to conceive at that time, and it hasn’t been since, but we can say, with the psalmist, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statute” Psalm 119:71.

None of these things were new truths, but we experienced and believed them in a deeper way than we had before. Here are some of the things I’ve recorded about what God has taught us during this season of our lives:

• God has not forgotten us (Is. 44:21). He has ordained every single day of our lives before one of them came to be (Ps. 139:16).
• We are not on hold or waiting in the wings. God has created us and He has good works for us to walk in today (Eph 2:10).
• God is the one that opens and closes the womb as part of His good and sovereign purposes. He comforts us with the tenderness and compassion of a mother- and He is eager to do so! (Isaiah 66:13)
• In His presence there is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11), and apart from Him we have no good thing (Psalm 16:2).
• He withholds nothing that is good from those who walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).
• Because of Christ, no matter what the difficulty, we are doing better than we deserve; one glimpse of the cross is able to wipe away any self-pity!

God is good- ALL the time!