Having joy at Christmas time.....

The other day I had God reveal something to me that I had not realized before. Let me tell you the story. My mother has been passed away since 1995 and what God had revealed to me was something I had stopped doing ever since then. When my mother was alive, her, my sister and I would every year be in competition to see who could get their tree up and decorated the fastest. We had only one rule and that was we had to wait until Nov 11 @ noon before we could start. So at noon on that day we would all start frantically decorating our own homes, while calling each other to see how far the others were in the race to be first. It was alot of fun and being a competitive person, I was always up for the challenge. We had alot of laughs together. Another thing we would do is put little bells on our shoelaces so that when we went out you would hear our bells ringing on our shoes as we went shopping. My mom was so much fun and did not mind being silly to have fun. I have alot of fond memories about Christmas time and how silly and how much fun we would have together. It was just the other day that I had come to realize that since her passing away I have not acted or been exciting about decorating since then. It is not something I did intentionally but I did. As God revealed this to me I realized although I am happy I have not been excited about decorating. So today I got the tree out fluffed it and and decorated it all by myself. It was a fabulous day! Many great memories were brought to mind as I decorated the tree and in a time that you might think I might feel sadness I felt the exact opposite. I had a great day today doing the tree and thinking about all the fun I had at Christmas time with my mom.

My mom, dad and my stepdad are all long passed away now but I am reminded about all the fun and good memories I had with them and realize that there are many ways I want to be like my mom but mostly I want to live with that joy that makes life fun.

I realize for many that Christmas time can be painful because of lost ones and I pray that you may be comforted and that God will give you the peace that passes all understanding. I am now a mom with three children and I want my kids to remember how fun it was around Christmas time because of the joy and silliness that goes on in our everyday life just like my mom! Having a relationship with Jesus is my main source of joy and I am so happy that even after 14 years God will still reveal things to me that will produce a change in my mindset and even more healing would be brought into my life.

Sorry about the long story but I feel really good today and wanted to share with you the healing that happened today that I didn't even know I needed. I love God so much!!