Meeting JoyNess

So my doctors didn't tell me not to go to Colorado.  They did tell me, however, to not fly.  Two nights before we left town, I receive texts and calls...my niece was heading to the hospital to be induced.  I slept through the chirping from the middle of the night/early in the morning text.  My Grand-niece, nicknamed by her Nana on her blog, JoyNess, was born after 7 hours of labor.  It is mind blowing to think of my sister as Nana. We are entering new seasons of life and yet I so clearly remember the baby days of my niece who is now a momma herself.  A lot of change is blowing into my life these days and some of it is hard to process.  Hard because the years are flying by and I feel like I just blinked and I have missed so much as a result.  JoyNess is just that Joy in the midst of all this change.  She was roughly 36 hours old when I met her and my heart was so full. 

Her she is meeting her Great Grandmama and Great Papa. 

Sure made the long drive so much easier knowing she would be at the end of the road to meet. 

 

And here she is with Nana!

I am so grateful for her early arrival.  She is one strong and healthy little girl.  Her arrival wasn't without some bumps along the way, but she emerged strong and healthy and a perfect snuggler.  While she won't remember these days, God was using her in a mighty way, much like He used her Momma when she was a wee baby herself.  In all the trials of my teen years, my neice was my sunshine.  No matter what happened in a day, her smile could wash it all away.  Her hugs meant everything to me.  There is nothing like the seeing the world through the eyes of a child.  The purpose of this trip, I wish I could say was entirely to rejoice in JoyNess's arrival, but there bigger and harder things to accomplish on this trip.  But in the midst of it all there was JoyNess.  a peace and joy that came with just holding her, snuggling her, whispering prayers in her ear and telling her how much Jesus loved her.  For moments or two, all the other disappeared and there was this beautiful miracle to gaze upon and reflect on the beauty of God's creation.