People who know me personally might be wondering why they are seeing my Christmas card on my blog before it even arrives on their doorsteps. Well. Let me tell you…

I had grandiose ideas for a formal family photo shoot and, well…a photographer didn’t fit into the budget, and we got so busy! I kept forgetting to ask around with our friends and putting it off. So the week before Christmas I said – oh well! And designed these puppies with our newborn photos.

Yes, this little baby is now 7 months old and a chunky almost 20 pounds. But you’ll just have to imagine it. These are the best family photos we’ve got right now.

And yes, I got these in my hands on the 22nd. So they will be late. It’s still the holiday season. And I have a baby in the house. Give me some grace, alright?

And funny story….I was going to put “For unto us a child is born” on the front. But looking at it something felt off! I realized it looked like we were talking about Marshmallow rather than the birth of our Lord and Savior! Not what I was going for, so “Joy to the world” it is!

And what a JOY it is indeed!

This has been a rather trying year for our family. And while a lot of it you already know (premature labor, baby hospitalized for croup), much of it I’m not really able to go into in a public setting like my blog.

A lot of people are under this misconception that when you are a follower of Jesus, you live life in the easy lane. But that’s not Biblical at all! God has not lead us down an easy path. Like I said, our family has been through its fair share of trials. But every time I think…this is just too much…God swoops me into His arms and carries me through it. His strength has always proven to carry our family through whatever life throws at us and because of that, I know that whenever we get overwhelmed, we just need to find rest in His arms again.

And because of that, I can find JOY even on the dark days!

So Merry Christmas – from our family to yours! Wishing you a JOYous holiday season. Whatever season of life you are in, seek joy! If you look, you will find it!