How Great Our Joy

"Say to those with fearful hearts, be strong, do not fear;
your God will come...he will come to save you."
Isaiah 35:4 (NIV)

Christmas is all about Christ's coming. At the Evans house, we will be celebrating Advent each night over the next four weeks as we await the coming of Christmas. Week by week, we will add another lighted candle to our Advent wreath. It's a visual reminder to help us remember that Jesus is truly the Light of the world who came to overcome our darkness of sin and death. Each candle reminds us to prepare, celebrate, and rejoice in the revelation of Jesus Christ. After we light our candles, Bruce, James Bruce and I will have a short scripture reading and devotional followed by singing some favorite Christmas carols. Music is our 36-year old special needs son’s love language. The highlight of our daily Advent devotional is always the singing and James Bruce's rush to blow out our ever-shrinking candles.

When our four children were young, I was always so relieved when we finally got to the fourth week of Advent. It meant that each child had his or her own candle to extinguish. Until the fourth week, our children would almost come to blows over who got to blow out that night's candles. Our family Advent devotionals were certainly not worthy of a Norman Rockwell painting. When James Bruce and Daniel were small, Bruce was often holding one or both of them, while I struggled to read a few verses. But over the years, Advent became my favorite Evans family tradition. Gingerbread ribbons, ambrosia for Christmas breakfast, and looking at Christmas lights fell by the wayside, but Advent devotionals happily remained. More importantly, our Advent family tradition is being carried forward with the next generation of Evans children. Our daughter's family has their own daily Advent candle lighting and family devotional. Julia, Caroline, and Mary Clayton  are learning, not just about Jesus' birth, but also about the salvation that came with Him.

Our focus on Jesus' coming always prompts me to look for other ways that Christmas can unexpectedly come throughout the season.  Here are two of my all-time favorite “Christmas comings:”

• My five-year old granddaughter surprised me several years ago by saying, "Mia, I can read that!" as she looked at the title of our Christmas Festival program. "You can?" I questioned. "Sure," Julia replied as she slowly sounded out each word: “How.Great. Our. Joy!" Indeed, it is! One of the biggest heartaches that I've faced as a special needs parent is having an adult child who will never share my joy of reading. To have my young granddaughter read "How Great Our Joy" is one of the best gifts I've ever received. For those who are in Christ, those four words are not just words on a Christmas music program, but the every-day reality of our hearts and lives.

• Christmas also came that same Sunday night when two soloists sang “Ten Thousand Joys,” one of Pastor Reeder’s favorite songs. The song’s soaring lyrics and orchestration always make me cry. But it wasn't just the song’s presentation that made that night memorable. One of Julia's little friends, five-year old Campbell, when asked to name his favorite part of the music service responded with, "That lady that sang sure was happy with her ten thousand toys!" The God-given gifts of children and laughter combined to temporarily erase fears of terrorism, an unstable economy, a post-election national angst, and my crushing holiday “to do” list.

Christmas is coming because Christ has come. He has come to set us free from the power of sin and death. But Christmas is also coming because Christ is one day coming again and we have the hope of heaven. In words written just before his death, the Apostle Peter wrote with certainty, "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief...in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 2:10,13)

Look back this Christmas and remember that Christ came, but don’t stop there. Lean forward with hope and joy to celebrate that Christ is coming again. 

"Come, Lord Jesus." (Revelation 22:20)
Amen and Amen,
Donna