Pleasure or Joy

Giving time to God in a solitary place is like having a date with Jesus, talking, and being with Him the whole day. The time spent is not in vain. It was confirmed to me today through my daily Bible reading this morning. It is about the joy in our hearts and the passing pleasures in our environment. Despite the storm and the loneliness, I have many reasons to be joyful. Talking to God, asking for His guidance, the faith in Him, and His assurance. I've got joy in my heart. A real joy..complete.

To share with you In the Our Daily Bread article, joy was differentiated from pleasures.

                                                                                                                        

* For a joy that will last, always put Christ first!

*Acknowledgement to Henry Bosch of Our Daily Bread

     

My Pain, My Joy

Emily Faith's 2nd bday

It was during my seven (7) months of pregnancy that I had come to know that my baby has a congenital defect. It was seen during the ultrasound test that she is hydrocephalic. When the doctor told me the baby’s condition, it was as if my whole world suddenly stopped. In all those remaining weeks of my pregnancy, I had to undergo a series of ultrasounds and was really shaken to find out that her spine is curved. Worse came to worst, my baby's back is not fully developed when she was born and she needs to undergo an immediate operation to close her back as well as to insert a shunt on her head at that time.

Life has not been that easy for us, but there is a life that has to be carried on. Though doctors told me she wouldn't have good mental development, it was unfair for my baby not to let her be given a chance to see the light of this world. God is the only One who could get back what He has given.

weeks old, before the surgery

My daughter has been diagnosed with myelomeningocele or a syndrome of  Arnold Chiari malformation II. My little cuddly baby who was only 5 lbs more had undergone two (2) types of operations when she was barely a month old. One in the head for the shunt and another on her back to repair her lumbosacral. As she was growing, there is no trace that she has mental retardation as doctors had insinuated when she was still inside my womb. Now that she is four (4) years old, it pains me to see her moving from one place to another though with some limitations, because she wouldn't be able to walk due to damaged nerves in her lower extremities.

But in all of these, I have been thankful to the Lord for the special gift He has given us. We have given her the name Emily Faith Princess, after my name, and because through faith, impossibilities had become possibilities. Though there are therapies and medications needed for her to stay healthy, she’s giving us joy and laughter. That baby girl who has limitation in her movement never give us limitation for the joy, sweetness, and embraces she's always giving us.