People love to cite the first part of Proverbs 31:25:

“She is clothed with strength and dignity…”

But the last half of that verse is my favorite. In fact, if I ever get a tattoo, it will either be a black-eyed susan around the birthmark on my back OR it will be the second half of this verse… somewhere I can see it.

“She laughs without fear of the future.”

You know, 2020 was supposed to be the worst year ever. That’s what everybody said. It was a dumpster fire, and nothing was supposed to top it. Smooth sailing from then on, right?

No one saw 2021 standing in the wings waiting to make 2020 look lovely. Peaceful and even a little life-giving.

This year has been rough. I could make a list of all of the unprecedented, never-before imagined things that have happened in and to our family in the past ten months. I won’t, because it’s depressing. And it’s not the end of the story anyway.

There are nights I don’t sleep.
There are days I cry and eat way too much chocolate.
There are times I haven’t a clue what or how to pray at all.
And so I breathe in.
I breathe out.

And I remember that that woman I admire so much from Proverbs isn’t laughing out of ignorance or insanity. She’s laughing because she knows exactly who holds the future. She doesn’t need to fear, because all her tomorrows are already ordained. She doesn’t know what they hold, and she has no promise that they’ll be better than today. But she knows the One who holds them, and she delights in the confidence of His great love for her.

Me, too, beloved. Me, too.