Our Redeemer Lives!

In the last few weeks, God has really laid this word on my heart: redemption.

I love that word. It means that what went wrong will be made right...that there is hope that God is able to do big things, even when we're struggling against the toughest of currents.

It started last week when we were watching LOST. There was something so beautiful about watching the redemption of one of TV's most twisted villains. He was forgiven and adopted...by the very people whose leader he killed. I loved that. You can laugh at me. I will understand. It doesn't change the fact that LOST gave me goosebumps. :-)

But then, God started moving on my heart about my brother Justin and sister-in-law Aly. My baby nephew Jonathan was stillborn a year and a half ago, and they have been tirelessly struggling with infertility ever since. It has been rough on them, to say the least. A rollercoaster ride of emotions and doubts and faith and unanswered questions. As they started this latest procedure (frozen embryo transfer) within the last few weeks, I just started praying for redemption...that God would make it right. We know He works all things together for their good, but we want more than that for them...we want God to restore and make it better than it was before. Justin and Aly need redemption for what they've lost.

Yesterday we received the good report....Not only was the embryo transfer successful (pregnancy!!!), but Aly's hormone levels are so high that they seem to indicate twins. We won't know for sure for another couple of weeks, but wouldn't it be just like God to do that?? To be clear, we are thankful with just one. :-) But the strong, healthy numbers and positive outcome alone seem to be enough redemption already!!!

So this morning, on my way to work, I was praising and thanking God for the miracle of Aly's pregnancy. Absentmindedly, I began to sing, "'Cause I know my Redeemer lives...."

Suddenly, it all became very clear.

Five years ago, when I had my first miscarriage, "Redeemer" by Nicole C. Mullen was the song that got me through it. At the time, I didn't really understand what redemption had to do with my situation, and honestly, I didn't care. But I liked these lines of the song:

"Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
And who told the ocean, 'You can only come this far'?
And who showed the moon where to hide 'til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?"

These words were life-giving to me....They promised me that God is bigger than my situation...that He is the Creator and that the world is so big, and I am so small. He rules the tides. He rules the orbits. He easily rules my body and has a plan for me.

Five years later, I finally get the rest of the song. I get it. He gave me that song then, knowing that I wouldn't really connect with it until today. He gave it to me then, knowing the future...that the five-plus years of waiting for our miracle and mourning with Justin and Aly for their loss would make the message of the song real today.

You can't have redemption without a situation to redeem...Right?

So in the midst of our gladness for Aly and Justin, Ryan's and my hope is renewed as well! This is a season of redemption for our family.

He turns our mourning into dancing. Our Redeemer lives! He lives!