Trusting

Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!  Philippians 4:4  

My pastor gave a series of sermons one year ago, walking us through Philippians.   During one of these sermons he stated something that really hit me in a new way.  He said, "Joy is irrespective of the current situation."  Hearing it this time meant more to me, maybe because of our current situation in this rollercoaster adoption process or maybe it was because my brother was diagnosed with brain cancer.  We all have challenges in this life.  Happiness will come and go, happiness ebbs and flows with the circumstances and events of the day, but JOY is so much more!  JOY is something we can have within our heart and soul when we have the Holy Spirit living within us.  Yes, there are days when I feel far from joyful and peaceful (as you can see in some of my previous posts!), but I know it's there and it keeps me going day to day even when I don't have the strength to do so.

I still have the notes from that message by Pastor Bruce, in which he also states, "This joy is not from ourselves, it is from the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst, the source of all joy (Gal. 5:22; I Thess. 1:6; Acts 13:52; Rom. 15:13)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.   Romans 15:13   We can ALL have this joy and peace if we trust Him with our whole life!  By the way, we LOVE our church: Eagan Hills Church at 700 Diffley in Eagan :)

Today, I thought I would also show some pics of Carson as we've seen him grow...  he was 7 months old when we first saw his picture, now he is 27 months old.   Almost 2 years we've been longing to bring our boy home and it's only about a month away --  for real this time!  Enjoy!