Joy

I had planned on writing about advent and the themes that go with it since we are in the first week of December and Christmas is coming. Those of you who are traditionalists will tell be that I am getting a bit ahead of myself by starting with Joy, but it seems to go with the events of the last week. I had the opportunity to get to prayer meeting last week and found myself praying for the pastor and his family that they would experience all the joys of the season despite the heart ache of going through the process of saying good bye to a beloved family member. Little did I expect that I would find some extra joy myself this week.
I had the pleasure of helping my sister move back into her house last week (thanks again to all of you that have been praying for them --they can still use your prayers as they continue in this transition process). You may remember that they had a house fire last May and haven't lived in their house since then. It was a long hard journey and the house still needs a lot of work done to it but it was great to see the expression on my nephew's face when he said "You mean we get to sleep HERE...TONIGHT!!" It was pure joy.
I also had the joy of being present at my neice's baptism ceremony this past weekend. One of the things that we miss the most when we are out of the country are all of the special occasions with family, so it was great to be able to participate in this joyful occasion and to see what God is doing in her life.
My most recent joyful moment occurred just a little while ago when Dave phoned to say that he had handed in his last paper for the semester. He had struggled to get the last couple of papers completed and I was called in to edit and work through his thoughts with him. It is a great relief to know that it is done and that we can look forward to Dave's family arriving in the next little while.
Here is hoping that you have had many opportunities to rejoice this week as well!