A Great Ending to a Really Tough Day

Today was a pretty rough day for Kathee and I. It seems like this rollercoaster ride-journey is full of the continued unexpected. Along with being angry, confused, discouraged, and sad comes along a great encouragement and touch of love.
As I'm finding that more and more people are reading this blog who I don't know and haven't met, I'll share that I serve as the Director of Youth Ministries at a Presbyterian Church. And I absolutely love it. And it's October, which means Pastor/Clergy Appreciation Month. Now, I'm not ordained, so one would assume that Pastor Appreciation Month does not include me, which it doesn't. However, this year, Kathee and I have been getting encouragements, notes, gift cards, etc, from people in our church, just about everyday. It's crazy. And such an encouragement.
So this afternoon, at 4:00pm, we received an email from our adoption agency with some pretty upsetting news. And isn't that just about how it is? As a pastor, Satan loves to divert attention at just the opportune time--- so in my line of work, Wednesday afternoon is just about the worst time to receive news like this.
However, we were given a gift box from a family in our church tonight. This family has been INCREDIBLE supporters of Kathee and me, and my ministry, for years and years.
So tonight when we got home, we opened the box. Inside were the things you see in the picture above. The first thing I pulled out was the Husker pacifiers. Are you kidding? Husker game day is going to rock now! And the Husker sippy cup? Yeah, Gideon is most definitely going to need that to make sure he doesn't spill on his brand new Husker t-shirt! And then, they threw in two bottles of Emeril's Essence (which I put on just about everything). Along with that the popcorn that I make A LOT (and Emeril's go on that, too!). Throw in the Dorothy Lynch salad dressing (which is made in Columbus, Nebraska, and is a sponsor of Big Red Football radio to top it all off) and they just about have ALL my favorites.
So in a day that I assumed was going to end in a pretty rough and discouraging way, God still brings about His glory and shows us His goodness.
And to that I am joyfully content!

Isaac T