As we decorated our house for Christmas this weekend, I was reminded of God's faithfulness to us in even the smallest of details and wanted to share it with all of you.
To set the stage, it was Christmas 2012, just four months after we had laid Joy to rest. I had been having a rough few days - it seemed like everyone I knew was pregnant or having healthy babies. Even Princess Kate had recently announced her pregnancy. All those babies and pregnancies coupled with the general emotional overload that can come with the holidays had just left me feeling down. On this particular Tuesday, I had been in tears at my Bible study as I asked the ladies to pray for me in my sorrow.
Later that night, we started decorating for Christmas, even though it was the last thing I felt like doing. From here, I will tell the story via the email I typed to those dear Bible study ladies the next morning:
"We were unpacking the Christmas decorations last night. I opened one box and spotted a Christmas card holder that hangs on the wall on the top of the pile. I was excited because I vaguely remembered shopping for one last year but couldn't remember if I was successful or not and wanted a place to put all those cards that are already piling up. The weird part was that Eric was excited too - I couldn't figure out why he cared about a Christmas card holder. I asked him why, and he said "look at it". When I looked closer, I almost burst into tears (a common theme of yesterday for me apparently!). It says "Good news of great JOY" with the joy part in huge letters.
After seeing it, the story of me buying it came back to me and I was amazed at God's provision and timing, even in the little details. Last year after Christmas (when I was pregnant but didn't yet know that Joy had anencephaly and we hadn't even considered the name Joy) I went to the Christian bookstore to get a Little People nativity set that was on clearance. While I was there, I decided to look for a cardholder since I hadn't found one elsewhere. They had a few, but none that I loved because I wanted one that displayed the cards not just collected them. But this one was cheap and the boys were waiting in the car, so I just grabbed it. Little did I know the significance it would have a year later when I unpacked it. I know that "joy" is a common theme of Christmas and Christmas decorations, but the timing and the circumstances and even the style of the banner with the family silhouette on it give me no doubt that God's hand was at work. I know that God is faithful and cares for us, but I was so thankful to have a literal sign of it yesterday!"
You better believe that that Christmas card holder will be hanging on our wall for years to come, even if it's tattered and torn. It will serve as yet another Ebenezer (a sign of God's faithfulness and help, see this post) on this journey.
