John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Arguably one of the most 'popular' verses, yet it cannot be stated enough.  It is the very core of who we are as believers, and who God is.  It is why we live.  It is grace and love undefined.  It is mercy that makes no sense.  It is why we will meet Holden again.  It also happens to be on the cover of a very special gift we received in the mail yesterday.  I read it several times and thought about what it really means to me, before I could even open the gift: a scrapbook of Holden's life. 

I take those precious words for granted all too often.  We have ETERNAL LIFE.  It is almost too much to even grasp.  We have eternal life because Jesus came sinless and willing to bear our wretched sin.  It is such a weighty and undeserved promise.  I was just grateful for that alone, and in fact started crying just reading that...  The contents could have been empty and I would have been moved. 

But they weren't.

Back story for a moment: my sister is a scrapbooking queen.  She teaches scrapbooking.  For reals.  We might not be related.  She puts me to shame in all things womanly - crafting, decorating, cooking, baking, card making, cooking for others, well...everything basically.  She stole that in the womb, you know; it's not all my fault.  ;)  I have longingly browsed through her closet full of scrapbooks, just wishing I was a good enough mom to make even one for my son.  (By the way, Charys made a scrapbook for Holden before he was born with a page for each month up until his first year birthday.  It's so precious to me, that it makes me too sad to even look at right now; the love Holden's auntie has always had for him is really astounding.  One day I will open it back up.)  Then, at the Hope Mommies retreat, many of the moms brought beautiful scrapbooks of their sweet Hope Babies.  I came back to Snyder saying that no matter what, I was going to create a scrapbook for our firstborn.  When you are only left with photos and memories, it makes a scrapbook an even greater treasure. 

So I opened the pages of this dear gift.

Photos are coming soon to convey what I cannot.

It is a labor of love like no other.  A friend I have never met and did not know anything about, spent hours (very costly hours, since she is a mom to 5 of her own children) creating these pages.  Tia, thank you from the very bottom of our hearts.  As Chet and I sat together tonight, going through the photos for each page, it was one of the sweetest memories I will ever have.

Tia you are a treasure to our family.  Thank you.  I look forward to meeting you to give you a giant hug...a hug that will mean more than anything I can type.  I love you.