Sing Louder

Many of you may have heard by now that a couple of weeks ago we found out that one of the twins had died. If you read this blog with any frequency you may remember that my wife was expecting twins (AKA: "Mark" and "Johnny"), but the ultrasound at her 20 week appointment revealed that one of the twins had died. We know that the remaining, living twin is a girl. She seems to be doing fine, though the doctors want to monitor her development and growth closely over the coming weeks and months. We would ask you to join us in prayer for this little girl that she would be preserved safe and healthy and that she would have no complications.

Times like these are of course given to us by our faithful Father because he loves us and wants us to become more like him. Romans 5, in the midst of unpacking the doctrine of justification by faith, explains that because of justification, tribulations should produce perserverance, character, and even hope. One of the reasons God gives hardships is to make his people more hopeful. He wants us to have bigger hearts, deeper imaginations, and expect greater things from him. James begins his epistle with a similar statement, insisting that trials should make us joyful since we know that God intends to teach us patience so that we might be perfect and complete, not lacking anything. This can mean nothing less than God expects us to respond with praise and thanksgiving. In other words, he wants us to sing louder.

As Christians, we hate death. It is the last enemy that will be destroyed, and therefore we will not make peace with that enemy. At the same time, we are not sentimentalists, and we will not act as though there is something unfair about God's dealings with us. We have seen a number of obvious blessings already in these days. God has been supremely kind and good to us; he has protected us from many dangers, and we are thoroughly thankful. We are very hopeful that we will soon meet our daughter and that she will be healthy and strong, and we know that we will meet her twin, Anastacia Ruth, her 'resurrection friend', later, in God's good timing.

Thank you for your prayers and kind words. God is good.