Christmas tree

So, we just got a Christmas tree today. A real one!!! I've never had a real tree before, and I just discovered that I enjoy it more than I thought possible. It's beautiful, and for whatever reason, it makes my heart really really happy. Seriously excited and full of joy. I'm sitting here trying to figure out why that is, and it seems sort of odd to me that this would be bringing me joy like this. Maybe it's because I'm tired. Maybe it's because it was a new experience and it was a ton of fun. Maybe it's because it's like having a little bit of outside inside, and I know soon it will be too cold to be outside.

Or maybe it's something else. Maybe God just wants to put a little bit of joy in my life in a new and unexpected way. Maybe He wanted to surprise me, because He knows I truly love surprises. I've had so much going on in my life recently, so many stresses; feeling so overwhelmed. Coming apart at the seams. And then my precious Lord gives me an unexpected gift. He's been doing that a lot lately. I've known He is good, always, I've seen it and experienced His goodness in such ways that I know I will always believe it; even when I do not feel it. But lately it's just been so evident. Actually, it reminds me of how Graham Cooke talks about God giving him a revelation of His kindness each day. It's been sort of like that.

So, everytime I think about this tree, or tell someone about it, this seemingly irrational joy wells up in my heart. It seems a bit crazy to me. I've been worried there's something wrong with me. I mean...it's a tree. But maybe it's more than that. Maybe my heart recognizes that it was more like a gift from my Love, and that's why this joy is overcoming me, despite any circumstances.

That is what joy is afterall. Slightly irrational, it comes not because of what is surrounding it, but in spite of it. It surprises us. It cannot be broken. Joy holds a strength that cannot be rivaled because it is rooted in something so deep it cannot be shaken. This tree will die eventually, and I will have to say goodbye, but the joy will remain because it isn't really about the tree. It's about Who made it, and Who gave it to us. Joy packaged in an evergreen surprise. Who'd have guessed? I love it. And I love Him.