"Your sorrow shall be turned into joy." (John 16:20)
Their particular sorrow was the death and absence of their Lord, and it was turned into joy when he rose from the dead and showed himself in the midst. All the sorrows of saints shall be thus transmuted; even the worst of them, which look as if they must for ever remain fountains of bitterness.
Then the more sorrow the more joy. If we have loads of sorrow, then the Lord's power will turn them into tons of joy. Then the bitterer the trouble the sweeter the pleasure: the swinging of the pendulum far to the left will cause it to go all the farther to the right. The remembrance of the grief shall heighten the flavour of the delight: we shall set the one in contrast with the other, and the brilliance of the diamond shall be more clearly seen because of the black foil behind it.
Come, my heart, cheer up! In a little while I shall be as glad as I am now gloomy. Jesus tells me that by a heavenly alchemy my sorry shall be turned into joy. I do not see how it is to be, but I believe it, and I begin to sing by way of anticipation. This depression of spirit is not for long, I shall soon be up among the happy ones who praise the Lord day and night, and there I shall sing of the mercy which delivered me out of great afflictions.
Reading this yesterday was so helpful. Sorrow will get easier as time goes on but I have the joys of Heaven to look forward to. One day I will get to be with Jesus where there is no more hurt, sorrow, or bad things. Plus, I will get to see my sweet Savannah again. My sister and I have talked a few times about how this is not our home and how we long for Heaven so much sometimes. It reminds us of how there are many people around us who don't have a relationship with Jesus which means separation from God for eternity. There is such an urgency to spread the news about the love of Christ. It's not just praying a prayer, or sitting in church, but a relationship with Christ. Think about it. Your relationship with your husband or best friend. If you never talked to them or didn't trust them, it wouldn't be much of a relationship. I have been burdened lately for all those people around me who don't know the Lord, some who say they don't and some who say they do but show no fruit. We are not promised our next breath and Jesus is coming back soon. There's no time to wait around because we are scared people will think we are weird or that we might create an awkward moment. I hope this all makes sense. I just felt like I should share this.
Thanksgiving was good this year. Eric and I were able to spend time with both sides of the family. I was sad that Savvy was not there. I do know that if there is food in Heaven, I'm sure Savannah had sweet potatoes and turkey for Thanksgiving. That was her favorite food. I was also thinking about next Thanksgiving when we will have sugars #2 with us (Lord willing of course). I can't wait to play with the baby, hold it, sing to it. I will have to pick out a new song for this baby to sing to it every night. I always sang "All I have is Christ" to Savannah. I will get to tell the baby all about Savannah and how great she was. I think I will always celebrate Savannah's birthday with our kids. Probably with monkey cupcakes since that is what she had at her first birthday party (monkey themed.) I'm so thankful that the Lord blessed us with a new little baby right away. I love being a mommy and I look forward to having a house full of children.
Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to SC:
I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and I hope you have a Merry Christmas!!!
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