Sometimes the Joy is in the Little Things

Tonight I was in the baby section at Walmart to pick up diapers for a friend of mine. As I stood there, surrounded by cute little dresses and other baby items, it suddenly hit me: It won't be long until we are picking up our daughter's things here! This may sound like a crazy small thing, but after walking through the valley of infertility, it is an amazing thought. In the first year or so after finding out we couldn't have kids, I used to walk through the baby isles at Walmart and cry. It was a loss as real as a death, and in some ways more difficult because the people around us didn't understand the grief and said some amazingly insensitive things. Then there were the following years as foster parents, and the inevitable feelings of loss over long term kids that eventually moved on. After a while, the dream of having a child of our own begin to wither and die...until I saw the children on Reece's Rainbow.

Our RR angel, Natalya, is such a gift from God. Its so amazing how God is able to take the broken things in our lives and in turn give us more than we could have ever hoped for! We are in such anticipation of the day that we will carry her out of that orphanage forever! As the psalmist, David, wrote "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to You and not be silent! Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!" Psalm 30:11