Every Life a Blessing

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/S%C3%A9pulcre_Arc-en-Barrois_111008_09.jpgThe last few months have been a roller coaster of emotions for me.  In October we were overjoyed to find out we were pregnant with our 5th child, only to lose her later that month.  (It was too soon to know the gender, but I strongly felt she was a girl, so we went with it.)  My miscarriage left an ache in my heart beyond anything I could have imagined.

Within a few weeks, I found out that two close friends were expecting, and I discovered that it is possible to feel elated and devastated at the same time.  As I rejoiced with them, all I could think of was the months ahead, passing with empty arms the day when our sweet Promise Rose would have been born and then watching their precious babes join these families we love like our own.

The empty ache I felt lessened a bit when I found out God had blessed us with another baby, but that made my emotions more jumbled than ever.  Part of me felt guilty that I missed Promise even a little bit less.  Part of me was just so relieved to have some respite from the pain.  And part of me was excited that my friends and I would get to walk through pregnancy together.

And then this morning, one of those friends lost her little boy, Isaac.  It sent me reeling.  The sorrow and shock I felt with my own miscarriage came flooding back, and all I could do was cry, just as my friend had cried with me after Promise died.

I don’t understand why these little ones’ time on earth was so short.  I suppose I won’t this side of heaven.  But Isaac’s life was a blessing, not just to his family, but to all of us who love him and had looked forward to meeting him.  And while we’ll have to wait a little longer for that day, I’m comforted by the thought that Promise was there to welcome him into Heaven, and that the two of them are experiencing more love, joy, and peace than they ever could have known on earth, because they are with the Lord.  Someday, they’ll have a lot to share with us.

All the time, God is good.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4