Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

(1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV)

This afternoon my 4 yr old was complaining about having to attend another church service, which made our 3rd service of the day. Well, I suppose we were only at the second half of the early service this morning, but anyways, I thought for a moment and then said, "Well, bud, this is a very special time in the church year, Lent, when we remember Jesus and His long journey to the cross. We go to church to remember, to pray, to learn, and to be strengthened in our faith with His gifts so that we can stand firm against the Devil as we prepare to celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead."

At that he beamed and said, "Oh! And so we can wait for Jesus' coming in glory when He will raise Anastasia Joy out of her grave!"

My mouth dropped and I said, "Jesus' coming in glory?"

"uh huh! We learned about it in Sunday School! Mama, is Easter when Jesus is coming in glory to get Anastasia from her grave?"

"No, sweet boy, we don't know when Jesus is coming back for us, but He has promised He will and on Easter we see that He always keeps His promises."

My sweet boy.

Then, after the service tonight there was a dinner and a fellow pastor's wife was there with her new four month old little girl. I saw her go up in line to get her food and, as I was finished eating, I approached her to ask if I could hold her baby while she ate. She handed her to me and though I had felt no emotion while going to her, when I took her sleeping baby in my arms I had to bite my tongue to keep from sobbing. I walked towards the back of the room with my back turned away and let some tears slip. She was so beautiful! So precious and tiny. Such a miracle. Her tiny nose, that newborn skin freckled with those tiny white bumps, her sweet eyelashes and delicate little lips, and her hands which she had folded as if in prayer the entire time I was holding her. She felt so warm and sweet in my arms and for a moment, I was holding Anastasia. 

As my sister in Christ came back for her daughter our eyes filled up with tears together and in that moment I was overflowing with thankfulness for the Church, for my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Because when one of us suffers, we do not have to look far to see God's love, God's miracles, and proof that we are still alive as a body of Christ. None of our children are really ours anyways, they are children of God. And so, to hold one of God's tiny miracles, well, it was like she was put into my arms for a few moments so I could see that even in the dead of winter, God is life and salvation. Thank you so much friend for sharing her with me.