Job 1:21

One of my favorite worship songs is by Philips, Craig, and Dean. It's entitled "You are God Alone" and right now, part of those lyrics are incredibly true for my emotions tonight. It says "And right now, through the good times and bad, you are on your throne. You are God alone."

Good times: Charles Owen Martin entered the world tonight at 6:40 pm. He weighs 8lbs 6oz! Since Lacey was so incredibly exhausted, I decided not to go see him tonight. When she called, she said he was perfect in every way! My heart is exuberant for Lacey, Baron, and baby Charlie. I am dying to meet him! What a wonderful and beautiful gift from the Lord. I will post pictures tomorrow night!

Bad times: Jamie is the ESL teacher at my school. Since I wasn't ESL certified this past year, he had to come into my classroom every day. He came every class period for thirty minutes each. He would pull small groups or work with individual students-pretty much anything I needed. Without his help, I would have never gotten so many kids where they needed to be for TAKs. I'm praying that just because I'm (hopefully) ESL certified now, that he won't be taken away from me. I love his help and his character.

My heart is breaking for him right now. His brother fought cancer, and he fought the good fight. Tonight, the Lord told him he could stop fighting and brought him home to be with the Lord. While I don't know what it's like to lose a brother, I do know what it's like to lose my mom to cancer, and I imagine that it sucks about the same. As I think back to the days after losing my mom, I think back to the strength and comfort that only came from my Lord. I am so thankful that Jamie has that same faith in the Lord. I pray that he and his family feel that comfort and relies totally on the Lord during these next few days, weeks, and years. I'm praying for you, Jamie. Will the rest of you join with me?

So many different emotions for one day. A beautiful birth, and a heartbreaking loss. Thank you Lord for your blessings and your comfort.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die."

Job 1:21 "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."