Five little elves...

Merry Christmas! Joy to the World!

 

Joy

to the World, the Lord has come!

2012 was a year full of lessons in joy. 

This joy began 2012 years ago in a stable.   Baby Jesus was born. 

Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.” Luke 2:10

That baby grew to be a man.  God’s son.  God in flesh.  This perfect man fulfilled the Scriptures of Zechariah.

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.”  Zechariah 9:9

But He did not come to be an earthly king.  He came to die, also a fulfillment of Scriptures.  He is the ultimate example of joy.  He died for the joy of our salvation from the bondage of sin!    He rejoices over us! 

 

Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Hebrews 12:2

The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.  Isaiah 62:5

Thankfully the story does not end in the tomb.  As the above verse in Hebrews mentioned, He rose again to Heaven where He is interceding on our behalf.  And He has promised us that we are not to sorrow since He will return one day.  The verse below is so much more real with the birth of our Abigail Katherine this year. 

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.  John 16:21-22

 

With all He gave for us, how can we help but respond?  We are called to reflect His joy.  How do we do that when circumstances are not always joyful?  Our joy is not in our circumstances but in the Lord who gave His life for us.  He is faithful through everything! 

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  Isaiah 61:10

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  Philippians 4:4

It is He, Himself, who enables us to have the joy in spite of challenging circumstances.  It is not always calm and quiet on the home front, but God is enabling Michael and I to be filled with joy.

 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

This is the Weyler’s Joy-filled testimony to God’s faithfulness in 2012.

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.  Psalm 5:11

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let such as love Your salvation say continually, “The LORD be magnified!”  Psalm 40:16

On the tenth day of Christmas 2012...

...we took our darling son--to a TUTS performance of Peter Pan.

 

 

I started to have second thoughts that afternoon.  He did not sit super still at our Christmas performance at church, but...

Not to fear!  He loved it!  He even responded to Peter Pan with a resounding, "I BELIEVE!!!" when Tink was in danger of dying.  Hah! :)

A special time with David...

On the ninth day of Christmas 2012...

...David helped me make--some yummy Christmas candy and treats.

 

 

 

On the eighth day of Christmas 2012...

...we took our annual trip-- to see lights around the Prestonwood Forest neighborhood.

After dinner, we bundled into our spacious minivan (too many years of cramming into a sedan for this event) and spent 1 1/2 hours viewing the abundant lights of this subdivision. Perhaps a Sunday night, perhaps later in the season, perhaps earlier than other nights...at any rate, it was less packed than other nights and easier to make our way quickly up and down the streets.


Most streets have a theme and we saw the old favorites:  the twelve days of Christmas in Texas, the night before Christmas in Texas, the patriotic block, the carousel block, the Disney block, the Rudolph block, not to mention the more controversial real meaning of the candy cane block, and our favorite--the Christmas story block!

 

Add to that the best all-around houses with lots of lights, best mailboxes, best front doors, best lamp posts and you have some pretty spectacular views. 

The most sensational of all was a house that must have spent a fortune and hours and hours timing their massive number of lights and decorations to a radio station so that you could watch the lights dance to the music.  They even had an odd LCD of Santa in the window that looked like he was really there.  All in all, the music was a bit cutting edge and not as sweet and cheerful but fascinating nonetheless.