I had an unexpected emotional outburst today. Emotional outbursts are rare for me, so I guess they are always unexpected. This particular one happened at church. I really try not to cry in public, and church is no exception. But they had to go and play that song, that one I love so much – “In Christ Alone“. That song that reminds me what an enormous gift my Christ is. That song that reminds me that I would not be where I am today if it were not for Him. My favorite excerpts:

He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.

And if eternal salvation wasn’t enough, God has also blessed me here on earth. He is given me far more than I could have ever dreamed of. To say God has blessed us over the past few years is a gross understatement. Let me recap:

2006 brought the news that after 7 years of waiting, I was finally pregnant.

2007 was the year of our son’s birth. Though the delivery was a tad traumatic, he was born healthy and thriving and beautiful.

2008 was the best yet. Luke is still healthy and thriving and beautiful. Mike smoked his last cigarette on January 31st. He was laid off from his job in May, but that was a blessing in disguise because he has been able to stay home and take care of Luke ever since. It was also during this year that we discovered we can live on my income alone (that will be a blog post all on its own). And to top it all off, I lost eight pounds!

These were the facts I was reflecting on as the congregation began singing “God is good, all the time”, repeatedly. Of course I couldn’t sing along because at this point I had crossed over to sobbing. Tears were streaming down my face. Mike and I have been talking over the past few weeks about how God has blessed us but this morning the realization of it hit me all at once. No words can express how grateful I feel for all we have been given. It is truly amazing to me.