Christmas Time is Here...

How was your Thanksgiving? You can see the pics below for our Thanksgiving/Christmas with the Varners. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time with the family. Our little apartment was quite full as you can see, but we loved being able to host all of them - even more so considering this may have been our last year for awhile for us all to be together.
Christmas Time is indeed here...I think it's been here for a few weeks if you walk through the stores. Today I officially pulled out most of the decor for the season although I'll wait for John to put up our big (not being really that big) Christmas tree together. When I was getting ready for Thanksgiving a few weeks ago I was busy just like everyone else running through the Grocery Stores. I couldn't help but think about all these people hurrying through the stores in prep for a holiday celebrating thankfulness with their carts filled high and yet their faces devoid of any joy. A good reminder to myself that even if we celebrated a Christmas like my parents did for their first Christmas (no job for my mom who was expecting and my dad was going to school and working and money was tight so they made their Christmas ornaments out of cardboard and tinfoil which they shaped into little stars- I have one hanging on our little Christmas tree as a reminder of their first Christmas and the goodness of the Lord to them) if that was the case for us- what joy to celebrate the coming of a Savior. I heard recently of a school where the children would not be allowed to sing the verses to 'Joy to the World' in their Christmas Concert. All they could sing was 'Joy to the World' over and over again to the tune. My thought was, "Joy to the World the Lord has come...." if not for His coming, what would there be to be joyful about? New games and gear under a tree that will satisfy for a short month or two? I love this time of year and the decorations and ornaments and the warm colors and magnificent foods we enjoy during this Holiday. But it is all quite empty without the Joy of the Lord. I hope it reigns in your heart this Season.