The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.    Zephaniah 3:17

Yesterday was the Advent Sunday of Joy. And I must tell you – it absolutely lived up to it’s name, in my experience. Worship began with an introit in which our young soloist, Isabel (who must be a pre-teen or in her very early teenage years) sang, and the choir joined in during the chorus.

During our usual “Children’s Story,” the children did a presentation of the Jesse Tree – explaining this tradition (from which comes the tradition of Christmas Trees), and the various symbols that tell the story of Jesus’ birth, beginning from the time of King David. This was then capped off as Ivy (3 or 4 years old) sang “This Little Light of Mine.” I’m pretty sure every heart in the congregation (mine included!) melted.

Despite a cold that had been rather fierce over the weekend, my voice and stamina held out through the sermon and I was even able to sing the beautiful carols of this season. After worship, there was so much warmth and enjoyment in the coffee fellowship that no one wanted to leave! One of our elders joked that she might have to flick the lights on and off to get people moving.

I rushed home from the service to prepare my condo for a wine-and-cheese afternoon with the elders of Graceview. I always enjoy opening my home to visitors, and the preparation is as lovely to me as the gathering.

Soon, my elders arrived, and we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying conversation and nibbles. Once the last of my guests had departed, Koski and I cuddled up on the couch and I enjoyed watching Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 on Netflix.

It was a day filled with beautiful moments. Some of them were spiritual, some of them were simple, all of them were delightful. And each one was a gift from God.

May you also experience great joy in this season, and may you know the One who makes our joy complete!