Joys

Our Christmas tree is up! This might seem like a small thing to most, but those of you with whom we attend church, you know it is a JOY in our house. Setting up and decorating our tree is not without challenges but it is still a simple accomplishment. The pre-lit tree had very few lights that worked. I did not set about the task of fixing. Oh no, I just strung around more lights as though the dead bulbs are not even there. And obviously I left the tree leaning, as it does every year. Simple. But as Thing 1 shared in church on Sunday, it was a JOY that we were setting up the tree that day.

It's not a joy because he is aware of Christians around the world that may be unable to freely celebrate Christmas. Nor does he announce it as a joy because he thinks about the many families in our own neck of the world that can't afford a Christmas tree. You see, a couple of months ago our worship leader said to come every Sunday with a joy to share and our young Alex P. Keaton does what he's told. He has a JOY to share every Sunday. He announces joys from grade school and Boy Scouts and the whole congregation was counting down with us to Grandma's arrival for Thanksgiving. If you give it deep thought, setting up our tree together as a family is a big joyous occasion. We are free to worship, we can afford a tree and gifts to place beneath it and daddy is home to point out the gaps in need of ornaments. However, Thing 1 just enjoys the Christmas tree and acknowledges the joy.

Normally I just smile and shake my head a bit when he shoots his hand up in service with a JOY to announce, but sharing the simple joy of the tree made me think back to my favorite picture of the kids and honestly I was lost in thought for awhile. I refer to this favorite as our 'lemonade picture'.

They are three and five years old in this picture and practicing fishing in the backyard. What you don't see here are the lemons. Well, aside from the mower that is their dock. It doesn't run. The picture doesn't show that the last time that lemon was used was eight months prior when Mr. 1inamillion fell off and injured his shoulder. The injury that led to the discovery of a sarcoma on his shoulder and another in his lung. You don't know that their father had been through four months of chemotherapy and four surgeries. The day the picture was taken we had hoped he would feel well enough to go fishing, but he didn't. We all were disappointed, but they made the best of it by practicing their casts in the backyard. They giggled and had a ball. With Mr. 1inamillion resting in the living room, I watched them through the kitchen window and thought...at the very least, our kids will learn to make darn good lemonade.

Mr. 1inamillion is in St Louis for chemotherapy tomorrow and will eat great Italian food on the Hill tonight. We will have fun here with basketball practice and a third grade performance of The Nutcracker Suite, maybe followed by ice cream. We are definitely learning to be thankful for the simple gifts and make the best of every situation. There's a lot of lemons, but there is JOY in setting up Christmas trees and throwing a line from impromptu fishing docks. We thank God for that.