I recently heard a line in a movie that really resonated with me. The character questioned, "How can I miss someone so much that I have never even met?" That just completely sums up how I feel about Joy. So often my heart just aches for her, to touch her, to hold her, to embrace her. I have never even met her, yet I miss her. I also began thinking about all of the milestones in her life that we have already missed. Yet, I was reminded of a poem that my sister found and sent to me. It is such a beautiful depiction of the fact that Joy's heavenly Father has always been with her, loving her and comforting her. He hasn't missed a minute! He has been planning her life since the beginning of time. This poem is untitled and the author is unknown:
You might not know the story (the one about her birth)
But I have kept a record since the moment she touched earth.
I know the day she tried to walk. I counted every fall.
I know the number of her tears. My bottle holds them all.
I was there for the day when she turned one year old.
You don't know where it happened and she might not have been told,
But those things are less important than the fact that I was there . . .
That I planned her birth with purpose is more important than the "where".
I was there when she was waiting. I whispered to her when
Her small heart first held the promise of the family I would send.
I planned all those details of herself that whisper she is yours
So that one day you could show her that I'd planned this since before.
Since before she heard your voice and before she knew your name
I was holding her and planning for her welfare just the same.
There was never once a moment when I didn't rule it all
From the numbers in her birth date to events she can't recall.
I've been planning this small life for the big one that shall be.
The missing pieces of her story make more room to trust in me.
The harvest that will come of the first few years of pain
Will be greater than your heart can know, or ever could contain.
