Happy Holidays?

The other day I somehow stumbled onto an amazing, heartbreaking, bittersweet, hopeful, sad, wonderful blog. It was written by a couple in their 20's who just a few weeks ago lost a new baby. It made me think about life and death and pain and Thanksgiving. The holidays are "supposed" to be a time of joy. But sometimes they're not all their cracked up to be.
I've lived through:

• losing my parents twice-once to the effects of divorce, once to death.
• "losing" a family because of my parents' divorce
• the loneliness of being a latch-key kid
• losing a brother in a motorcycle/car accident
• 2 babies wait for us in heaven
• we've experienced financial troubles
• plus just the normal stresses of marriage and raising kids

If I look over at that little "FEEDJIT" thingy, I see that there are people who stumble onto this blog that I'll never meet. I think about you just the same. I wonder who you are, and what your life is like. I wonder why you stopped by this particular blog. And this week I've been wondering if any of you are in pain. Or stressed. Or lonely.

My heart is going out to that young couple who lost their baby. They know Jesus loves them and have clung to Him for comfort during this time. Jesus is the one who kept me going through everything that's been hard in my life. I just wanted to offer you the same comfort and hope.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

You can have joy in the midst of sorrow or stress. Trust me. I've experienced it.

If you're not going through anything particularly difficult right now, you might want to read about the young couple I've mentioned. And pray for them. Here's how to find them:http://conorbootheandgirls.blogspot.com/