Finding Joy in Disappointment

This past year has been one of accepting what God has given me and adjusting my expectations and dreams. It was the year that I laid down my dream of having a baby and rejoiced in the son that God gave me when Cody came into my life.

Accepting this reality took some time and has had many emotional twists and turns but God is faithful and he provided me with such a great family. I just love our little family of three.

In working through these emotions, I felt God calling me to share my story. I didn't know what that would look like - would it be through this blog? Would it be chatting with someone one-on-one that was struggling with something similar? I just wasn't sure, but I talked to Devin about it one evening. We thought it was amazing that God can take a difficult situation and use it for good.

Several days later, I received an email from our pastor. He was preparing for his sermon series for Advent - Joy To The World. He was looking for people to share their stories about joy and wondered if I would be open to speaking about finding joy in the midst of a difficult circumstance. To speak about my desire to be a mom, meeting Devin, the difficulty of a blended family and the pain of trying unsuccessfully to have biological children.

I couldn't believe the email when I read it. God had definitely been preparing my heart for this moment. In fact, in his request, Nate commented that he knew it was outside my comfort zone and understood if the answer was no. I responded to say that I had felt God calling me to share my story and I knew He was preparing me for this.

Someone at our church has an elaborate studio set up in his garage (Nate affectionately calls it the garage-mahal) and volunteered to put the videos together. I was quite impressed with the multi-camera set up, wireless mic, chroma key background and teleprompter! I felt like I was back at the TV station!

After putting together the elements, he sent me the link. I thought I would share it here as my hope is in sharing I will help someone else that is struggling with similar challenges and to know the joy that God can bring.