Finding Beauty in Life's Crosses

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Yesterday was the anniversary of the birth and death of my precious nephew, Daniel.
My brother and sister-in-law had been trying to conceive for a very long time, and at long last, she was pregnant. We all were ecstatic and waited impatiently for his arrival. But sometimes things don't turn out as you plan, sometimes tremendous crosses are planned for us, instead of joy. On June 7th, Daniel was born prematurely. My sister-in-law had eaten some food out that didn't seem quite right, and it threw her into early labor. Daniel's little organs were not fully prepared to function yet. And so, my brother and sister-in-law welcomed their long-awaited child into the world, had the most memorable 45 minutes of their life, and were then asked to let him go, whisked away to the loving hands of God.

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