Christmas Time is Near: Advent Days 15, 16, 17

I did not mean to let this slide.  We've had lots of company and unexpected guests and such.  However, I hope to get caught up today and to stay caught up!

Day 15
James 1:2-4 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

Sunday when I read this I was much amused.  My current 'trial?' An unexpected guest, a change of plans, an emergency rescue and a hurried and rushed Family holiday that felt more like a fast speed film than a holiday.  I came into Sunday exhausted and felt stretched out of shape from it all.  Not big trials by any means but a series of things that were no doubt meant to test me.  In the end, I found myself satisfied.   Satisfied that I'd done my best in all circumstances and not once had I given in to tears or meltdowns.  I do not always so gracefully come through a set of trials, but I 'considered it joy' when my husband openly admired me Sunday afternoon, praising my perseverance.  

Day 16

Psalm 126:5  Those who sow with tears will reap with joy

Today's reading dealt with gardening...and how a handful of seeds and a few odd looking rhizomes and bulbs can produce a lovely garden.  The first question was "What season do you find yourself in?"

Not a season of trials. Not a season of fear.  But a season of being transformed.  Oddly enough it's a scary sort of season for me.   I am finding indeed that I'm being stretched hard, pushed beyond my previous comfort zone.  Just like a seed or a bulb in soil.  What strange things they must feel in that dark strange place awaiting a transformation.   And how glorious they are once they arise from that place to shine out in all their beauty!

Day 17

Psalm 118:24  The Lord has done it this very day;  let us rejoice and be glad.

The statement in today's reading that impacted me hardest was this one:  Rejoicing is an action we choose , not just a feeling that comes our way or happens to us.

I've thought a lot about joy in the past month.  I've sought out verses about joy and wondered where I might find it but it never occurred to me that joy was something I could choose.  Today's questions included the suggestion to list three things for which I was grateful.

And at last it clicked.  I choose to be joyful when I choose to appreciate that which God does in my life.

After a weekend that looked like a big smash up on the rocks what am I grateful for?

Healing of old hurts and forging of a new member into the family.  When the first step occurred I was not in the least sure that good could come from this.  But yes...today when our guest left there was genuine love and affection between us.  There had been healing in many forms for her and her ex-husband who happens to be my husband now, and for the son the three of us raised.  I felt real joy that I'd been privileged to experience this situation.

Family time.  In some way I shared with all of my family this past week. It wasn't the family holiday time I'd thought we'd have but I had in fact touched base with everyone.  Amie, Virginia, Jd, Katie, Sam.  

Looking at how God keeps expanding my family to include others who are not my blood relatives but who are related in heart.

I choose joy.