We are so grateful that sweet baby P will very soon be officially ours. With any new kiddo comes excitement and fears, however those fears feel a little more real as adoption of course is uncharted territory for us. This sweet one will grow up with two families. He has an extended biological family who has and always will love him. He has a brother only one year younger living just around the corner from us who had been adopted into a precious family. He also has an adoptive family he has been grafted into for as long as he can remember.

Navigating this complicated life with Perrin, Ellery, and Asher will be all at once messy, complicated, and wonderful. I read once that God is weaving a beautiful tapestry for our life and what we see here is the underside of that tapestry. There are messy and what seem to be meaningless threads crossed. There are painful and difficult knots that are impossible for us to untangle. But what God is doing that we cannot see is using these crossed threads and painful knots to weave a beautiful and redemptive tapestry for our life.

For a minute, try to imagine this picture of redemption that is being woven so perfectly and artfully. Take a moment to look back to see how the circumstances of life have positioned you for something to come. Think about how the difficult things you may be facing now may build your character and set the stage for something beautiful tomorrow. We may never fully know now how all of the people we meet and circumstances in which we find ourselves will be woven together to create this story in our lives. But let the thought give you hope. Something gorgeous is being created right now, even if it is hard to find the beauty in this moment. We always hear to “Choose joy!”. I don’t believe though that joy is a choice, but rather an outward reflection of work done within ourselves. If that work is still in process and joy isn’t something you’re feeling right now, I do believe you can choose hope.

After decades of wandering and war, I can’t imagine how the Israelites felt as they finally walked into the promised land, set their things down, let their kids run around in freedom, and took a big deep breath. It is a reminder today that if you’re in what may feel like the years of wandering and battles, the promised land is still promised. Keep moving forward, choosing to believe that the day you can set your things down and take a huge deep breath are just ahead.