• Photo (above) – the first snowflake doesn’t always come out just right!!

If you missed yesterday’s post on “Promise,” please click here and take a moment to read – Anticipation, joy, struggle, pain, overwhelm, and a mountain of love –  I honestly believe the words shared are that important.

Today the word that’s stuck in my brain is “joy,” or “Joy to the World!” Obviously, this is related both to Christmas and to having our two exceedingly exuberant grandchildren in the house.

So here, rather than the posed shots of Thanksgiving, I have a few candid images that turn out to be an eloquent photo-essay illustrating what joy really is in practice. Yes, they really are a couple of snowflakes!

For more of what joy looks and sound like, show up at church today and join us as we begin the fourth – short – week of Advent and prepare our hearts for Christmas Eve.

Yes, hundreds of us will gather together again for three services of worship Monday evening (at 4:00, 7:00, and 11:00). As I said yesterday, this Incarnation thing is certainly worth getting excited about.

JOY to the world! Joy is a beautiful thing!

In love, and because of love – DEREK