Joy?

The topic of the sermon yesterday at church was joy. Of course, joy is one word that is often associated with the Christmas season. Unfortunately, joy is not always easy to come by even at the most wonderful time of the year. I absolutely love Christmas. Even as a little girl, I would lovingly decorate my room and play wonderful Christmas music while wrapping presents (when I was very small, I would find random items around the house and wrap them. How fun to see my Mom's surprise when she opened one of her very own candles on Christmas morning!) This year, I am struggling a wee bit with the whole joy thing. I realize that my joy must not be contingent upon circumstances, but I confess that I'm having a hard time with that. Needless to say, the message at church was convicting and not necessarily what I wanted to hear (though I most certainly needed to hear it.)

There is so much going on around here that is beyond my ability to control (I also might have a teensy tiny issue with the control thing, too. Just keeping it real...) Isaac had surgery last week. I had been stressing about that for some time (two months to be exact - and I am really starting to irritate myself with the overuse of the parentheses). Isaac's first surgery was postponed, but the second one went very well. I thought that once we got through that, I would feel fine. However, in the midst of all of his hernia hype, Ethan has developed some issue with his stomach. Actually, it's been going on for months, but has gotten much worse in recent weeks. His stomach problems have gotten to the point that they are interfering with his life and our life as a family. We saw the Gastroenterologist last Tuesday and he ordered bloodwork and stool tests. We haven't gotten the results back yet. He also wants to do an endoscopy/colonoscopy to see if we can figure out what is going on. Some things being tossed around are Celiac Disease and Crohn's Disease. What I am really hoping for, however, is a parasite. I know that sounds weird, but it's easily treated and I just really want something easy right about now. It is so hard to see him suffer. Stomach pain just stinks! He has lost weight and this boy did not have any weight to spare! If you think about it, will you pray that we can figure out what is going on and that he will feel better soon? It is wearisome - for him and for us.

Finally, I did receive a little bit of good news today, though I am trying not to be too hopeful. Our social worker said our home study should be done by Friday. That is four days away... I am so ready for that part of this journey to be complete. It seems like it has taken FOREVER, though I guess it actually has been just 4 1/2 months. I know that there are so many lessons I should be taking away from the many happenings in my life right now.

Zephaniah 3:17 -
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

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

Galatians 6:9 -
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.