Redemption In Many Forms

Greetings on this lovely Sunday! I am sitting here on this day of rest, enjoying the sunshine and the peacefulness that comes from not having to go anywhere or do anything. It's been a crazy few days of life and I wanted to fill you in a bit. First of all, I spent 3 hours Friday night and about 5 hours yesterday at rehearsal for the Singing Christmas Trees. We were actually recording all 12 songs that we are singing in the show so that they can have a CD ready to sell at the performances. I must say that it was a lot of fun! It's really nice to just be a participant in a big production instead of being one of the people in charge of making it happen. And I'm having a lot of fun singing Christmas songs! :)

But the most important news that I have to announce is that my youngest brother asked his girlfriend to marry him on Thursday night!! Yep, Michael and Bekah are engaged!!! I am thrilled for them and so excited to welcome Bekah into our family. We all went to the same church in the Great White North, and I must confess that I thought she was perfect for my brother long before they started dating! I plan on taking some engagement pictures for them when I visit next weekend, so of course I'll post those when I have them, but for now, here is one I took on an earlier visit.

I must say that if I needed any sort of proof of the miracle that God has worked in my heart and the healing He has done, it came in the form of my reaction to this news. To be totally honest, I have wondered at times how I would react to people I love getting engaged and married. I wasn't sure I would really be able to be excited and that I would have a really hard time with it, for a variety of reasons. But I can truthfully say that when my brother called me with the news, I was nothing but thrilled and excited and filled with joy. I am thankful that I am going to be able to share in this journey with them and be a part of the story God is writing for their lives. And folks, that is a miracle.

I genuinely desire that someday I will be able to post a blog that announces my own engagement and that God has that as part of His redemption for my story. Whether or not that specifically happens for me, I am learning that redemption comes in many forms. It shows up in unexpected places, perhaps when we least expect it. But it's there, and it's as real as the God who makes it possible. And for now, redemption showed up in the form of a big sister being proud of and excited for her little brother, and deeply grateful for the God who made that moment possible.