This week we focus on the word JOY.

Joy is the feeling of great pleasure or happiness. Elizabeth shared great joy and excitement for her cousin’s pregnancy. After Elizabeth shared her blessing with Mary. Mary responded with her own prayer. Her words are an expectant song about the next steps on her journey.

And Mary said, I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened— I’m the most fortunate woman on earth! What God has done for me will never be forgotten, the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others. His mercy flows in wave after wave on those who are in awe before him. He bared his arm and showed his strength, scattered the bluffing braggarts. He knocked tyrants off their high horses, pulled victims out of the mud. The starving poor sat down to a banquet; the callous rich were left out in the cold. He embraced his chosen child, Israel; he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high. It’s exactly what he promised, beginning with Abraham and right up to now. Luke 1:46-55

We are all on a journey. Within the larger story we are living in a time in history where things are unpredictable. COVID-19 quarantines and protocols have been challenging for all of us. Mary could have viewed her unexpected pregnancy as a curse. She was an unmarried woman now expecting a child in a culture which would scrutinize her. And she chose to believe that God had given her this duty as a gift. She rejoiced thanking God for His mercy and trusted that He would grant her the strength to follow through with her call. Read Mary’s song again and put yourself in her place. Allow the warmth of her words to engulf you.

Identify what you are feeling this Christmas season. Take stock of what you have lost and what you have gained. Take a few moments to own both your good and your bad feelings.