Joy and Sorrow

This Christmas season has been so strange and surreal. It really has been one of much joy and much sorrow. So much joy--a friend who miscarried earlier this year is now pregnant and doing great! Another friend accepted a referral to adopt a son from China! Another friend has two days to go before their court date to adopt their two precious children from Ethiopia! Great joy!

And great sorrow. A friend from college was killed in a car accident last week, as a young driver evaded the police and led them on a high speed chase. The car smashed into Jason's car, ending his life instantly.

And then updated news that a friend from high school is losing his wife quickly this week. She has battled cancer for 23 months. They discovered it just as she was about to deliver their third child. She delivered early so that they could begin treatment right away. A year later, they celebrated his birthday, and the end of her treatment. Only days later, she began to lose feeling in her right arm, and discovered that the cancer had spread to her spine. It looks like this is likely the week they may lose her.

And at home my dad's friend and field boss who worked on our farm for years and years lost his senior-in-high-school son to a car accident only days after his son's best friend was killed in a car accident.

But in the midst of all this I think I have never been more aware that God is who he says he is. Sovereign. Good. Unfathomable.

And in the midst of it all, one of my great joys is watching Lucy delight in the Christmas season. She has been a fan of all things Christmas throughout the whole year, and to watch lights going up and decorations making appearances has lit her up! We go as a family to Home Depot just to look at all the Christmas kitch. Most wonderful to my heart, though, is hearing her little voice singing "Heark, the Herald Angels Sing." Glory to the newborn King indeed!