Celebrations

     Today was the valentine party at school.  The excitement was in the air and on the faces of all my students.  It wasn't really the party or the valentines that thrilled them.  It was the anticipation of the celebration to come.
     It happens for us with so many events in our life.  The day we turn 16, the day we graduate from high school, the first date, our wedding, the birth of our children...   There is something about waiting and anticipating what will come and then the memories that follow those events.  It fills our hearts and minds to overflowing. 
     I like to think that all of life will be full of joyful celebrations.  Although in my years I have learned that this is not always true.  Life is a mixture of both joy and sorrow.
    Scripture tells us in 1st. Thessalonians 5:16   Be joyful always, pray continually: give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
      I have not always been joyful during the storms, but I have learned that He never moves away from me.  Sometimes I must just weather the storm and then look back and see His hand in it all.  After all that is when the celebration comes.  The gray clouds roll away and the Son shines on us.                             
     Whatever comes I hope I will be joyful, for this is God's will for me and for you.

                                                               Citizen Soldiers Mom