Fight for Joy

Decorations!!  I love them!  Especially for the holidays!  
So I turned on the Christmas music and I started to get my decorating on…  that’s when it all happen…  
I got in a fight with my Christmas decorations.  
Not a small fight… a knock down drag out fight!  
Yes… you are reading this correct… 
garland flinging… bulbs flying… Christmas trees flipping fight!

I soon realized that a task that seemed so effortless last year 
was not going to be easy this year.  
I started with the mantle.  
I put the weighted stocking holders up 
and then started to place the garland behind them.  
As I did this one stocking holder fell… onto my foot!  
“OUCH”! (Those things are not light)  
Then another fell and another… 
we have four people in our family right now (soon to be six!) 
so you get the idea….  
They all fell to the floor... “CRASH”… 
along with the garland (covered in snowy glitter).   

Nothing broke… whew!

I started over again.  
I started with two small Christmas trees.
I thought maybe that would help, oh was I wrong… 
down went the tree on one side 
and then the other side (lights tangled up with beaded garland)
followed by stocking hangers 
(did I mention these are really heavy 
and I caught another one with my foot?) 
and lastly the garland.

At this point I was getting frustrated
(down right angry might be a better way to explain it)
I had done this last year with ease.  
Why was this so difficult this year?!?!

(Deep breath Nicole)

Third time is a charm right? 

So up went the Christmas trees again, (with bulbs on them) 
the stocking hangers, and then the garland. 

Down came the Christmas trees…“SHATTER” 
from the bulbs hitting the ground.

Down came the stocking hangers… “BANG” “BANG"
no not guns… stocking hangers hitting the ground.

Down came the garland… “POOF"
fake snow and glitter everywhere. 

Bulbs breaking, stocking hangers crashing, gash on my leg 
(which would later change to a giant bruise), 
and possibly a broken bone in my foot 
(might be a slight over exaggeration).  

And if that was not bad enough… 
the lights started flickering…

“SCREAM"…that noise was me.

I looked down and saw it…  
One of the stocking hangers had broken… 
My HOPE broke

My hope for a beautifully decorated mantle was breaking… 
that is when I realized it … 
My hope had been breaking lately….

The wait for our adoption paperwork was long and hard and 
my hope had been breaking.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 
~ Romans 12:12

I was not rejoicing in Hope.
I was not patiently waiting.
I was not being constant in prayer.

Then hit me…  I had lost my JOY…

Not just in my Christmas decorations but the
JOY God had promised me…

 The JOY that Kinsman and Miralette will come home!

I looked down at the mess on the floor and saw it… JOY!

Amidst all of the mess, all of the brokenness… 
My JOY stood alone! 
Unbroken!

It hit me...
No matter the circumstance that is happening around me

My JOY is in Christ.

For you are our glory and joy. 
~ 1 Thessalonians 2:20

I realized...
My hope cannot totally be broken 
because I have JOY… in Christ!

When it feels like Hope is broken 
and Joy has fallen…

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ~ Romans 15:13

On the days when I feel like there is not much movement 
in our adoption (pretty much every day)…

I will look to the one who gives me Joy, Hope, and Peace. 

I picked up the decorations and started again… 
I would like to tell you that after that everything was easy… 
but it was not.  
Things kept falling and breaking… again and again… 

But instead of screaming every time something fell…

I rejoiced… singing Christmas Carols!

Knowing that in the midst of my struggles… 
whether it is with decorations or our adoption…

I will believe the promises God has given me…

I will be filled with Joy through my belief in Him…

As a last attempt to decorate the mantle 
I connected everything together using a stand of lights. 

I started putting things up… 
could this be happing… Is it actually staying?

Light!!!  The Lights were the answer!!!   

The lights were holding everything together… 

Just like Jesus is my light and holds me together 
on the really hard days.

My JOY is rooted in him.  
My hope was restored...
 through Jesus 
the night he came into this world.

When it feels like all Hope is broken… 
it is His LIGHT that holds me together!

I choose to remember the Joy that came into this world 
when a tiny baby was born so many years ago.
JOY TO THE WORLD!   The LORD has COME! 

Let earth receive her KING!