What gives you joy? This time of year, one thing that brings me joy is Christmas lights! I love turning off the lights in the house after everybody has gone to bed and just sitting by the glow of a lit Christmas tree. I love decorating the outside of our house so when we drive up, it’s this beacon of light, reminding me (and our neighbors:) of the joy of Christmas. Incredibly, those same lights became the source of a wonderful battle between my wife, Holiday, and me last weekend as we struggled to put them up. In an instant, one of my greatest sources of Christmas joy became a total joy robber. I was ready to pull them all down, pack them back in the boxes and be done with it.

What gives you joy? What steals your joy? I’m guessing my life isn’t much different than yours. There are moments you’re experiencing the fullness of Christmas and moments where you feel empty and are fighting to rediscover it. Is there joy that can transcend not only the nominal circumstances of life like battling over Christmas lights, but the deeper issues of our soul: loss, grief, loneliness, abandonment, disease?

Join us this weekend as we continue our journey to Christmas together, remembering that God is With Us, bringing the hope, joy, peace, and love that we are all truly desperate for and will never find in this world apart from Him. This is the way we’re really going to experience the truth and fullness of what Christmas has to offer and it’s what the world is desperate for. Invite your friends, your family, and your neighbors to join us as together we find Christmas and joy!

Peace,

Kyle