JOY comes in the morning!

It's been a long, productive, good, very l-o-n-g day. It's late, I'm exhausted, and I am SO ready to take my book and head to bed. (My current bedtime reading, by the way, is Harry Kraus's A Heartbeat Away. If you haven't read Harry Kraus, you should! He's one of those authors that makes me hurry to get things done in the evening so I can go to bed and get back to my book! :))

I'm keeping tonight's Blogathon post short and sweet. When we got home from the gym a bit ago, I still had no idea what I was going to do for today's ICAD (see this post for details).  I was really ready to go to bed right then! So tonight's ICAD is super-simple (which is part of the premise of ICAD - to do some small bit of art every day, even if it has to be quick and simple).

Today's prompt was "carnival". The prompts are optional, and the "carnival" idea wasn't speaking to me at all. Except...I did see some cute buntings popping up in my newsfeed. Cute buntings make me happy. There is *always* a place for a cute bunting in my life.

So I slapped some acrylic paint on a card and handcut a super-duper simple bunting. I added the "Joy comes in the morning" to remind me of God's reminder to *me* of that very thing today. Here's my Facebook status with a bit of background:

I have had the opportunity more than once in the past few weeks to share a little of the story of the darkest time in our lives, or to listen as another family member shared. What struck me today about those opportunities is that while there are some tears involved, the things that stick out in my mind during these conversations are not the trauma and pain involved...although there definitely was an almost incomprehensible amount of trauma and pain, especially in the early years. What sticks out in my mind during those conversations is *always* the amazing faithfulness of our God. His sovereignty, sufficiency, goodness, love, and power are the things that overwhelm me when I look back over the last almost 9 years. I would never, ever in a million years have been able to believe that would be true back in those early years. It happened again today, and I was just overwhelmed with His love and care and faithfulness. That He would be able to take those memories and turn them into the reflections of His glory and grace as He has leaves me trembling in awe. There are many uncertainties ahead, and in my human frailty, I still struggle with worry and anxiety at times, but He is so merciful to point me back to Who He is and what He has done. "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." ~Psalm 30:5 Even when the night seems endless...morning does come, and the joy is unimaginable. He is faithful, and He never changes. "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." ~Psalm 136:1

I suspect I'll be all over the map with my ICADs over the next two months, but I plan for some, like this one, to show just a little peek at my day.  I don't want to forget His reminder today!

Is there a peek of your day you'd like to share? Maybe a verse that was particularly meaningful today, or something you particularly want to remember? I'd love to hear in the comments!

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