Christmas and the Inevitability of Joy...

I need to make a decision about Christmas. I always find that every year it is a time of decision for me. 1998 was the worst Christmas I ever had...but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Once you have danced with your demons in the depths of that despair, JOY is much more welcome than it ever could have been before. I have friends who are reclaiming their houses as places of JOY . Witnessing that kind of transition is encouraging unto itself...but there is something more powerful at work here. It is a question of relaxing our hearts and souls to let the changes come. We don't put Jesus on a shelf, do our life thing, and then invite him back in. He's been in it the whole time. Yeah, I mess up, but he comes back to me and says " You do all kinds of things, make all manner of plans and wait for some sign of rejection, " But I will not push you away, I love you, and I believe in you...even when you don't love you "... 1999 was one of best Christmas holidays I ever had. I had rediscovered JOY . A friend began to show me that there was so much more than just the love of our family to keep us here. It was a truth I had lost from a long time ago. Since that time, the Joy I have discovered has been assailed by many obstacles: human, physical, spiritual, and circumstantial. Despite this, it seems to have taken on a life of it's own. I call it the inevitability of Joy. It shows up in the moments following tears , a " Kodak moment " frozen; where your children are laughing, or the embrace from a loved one that says " We are just beginning to understand what love looks like " This year I have decided to allow Jesus to speak to me at Christmas. If he knows and sees our lives unfold in his midst, then I will thank Him for this new love and Joy he has brought me...Despite some moments of despair...That Joy is inevitable