Hope for the future

There is hope for the future. As I sat in the hospital holding our little Gwen Adele, I cried. I thought of who she might become. A woman someday who loves God. For now, her little eyes just peeked open, unfocused, trying to understand this new world of light, cold, and swaddling. I got on my spiritual knees and prayed that I would be the father she needs, that I could slay the dragons at the beginning of her life and protect her from evil with God's help.
April been a very difficult month for our family, but God's timing is perfect on everything. He has never let the righteous go hungry (or eat cat food). But holding my new little girl, who barely opens her eyes, there is hope for what God is going to do. April may have been a dark canyon, but May is the golden morning sunshine of a new chapter.
As I drove into the hospital and listened to KLOVE. I heard a listener story, she had lost a baby at 5 months and she gave it all to God. God gave her the peace that what had been taken away would be restored of her future daughter-in-laws, one has the same name of the daughter they lost and one's birthday was the day she was due. I remembered how we lost the first pregnancy very early on, and how many times we nearly lost Moriah during her pregnancy. God has been very good, no real complications, a great OB office, we had an awesome midwife, and got a 2 for 1 deal on doulas. Those two doulas worked hard and stayed with Elaine the whole the time. The early labor was long, but the end was quick and Gwen has a whole head of curly brown hair! Dad finally got to cut the umbilical cord. Elaine got to hold her prize, Gwen, a few seconds after birth.
It seems to me, what the locusts have eaten, God is beginning to restore.

Joel 2:24-26
24 The threshing floors will again be piled high with grain,
and the presses will overflow with new wine and olive oil.
25 The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.
It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
26 Once again you will have all the food you want,
and you will praise the Lord your God,
who does these miracles for you.
Never again will my people be disgraced.

This is what God is doing in our life. He has begun to restore what we have lost. Sometimes this is hard to see, when we're in the midst of turmoil. I had to sit and hold Gwen to slow down long enough to see God working, to hear Him speak in a still small voice. Yes, its been that busy.
Is the road ahead free from trouble and easy? Probably not, but for a moment, I was offered a glimpse beyond the here and now to where my family is going in this adventure called life.