DAY 1
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Psalm 37v4,23
For the last two Christmases I have rushed my way through the days of December, winding up exhausted and ill by the time our Comer Christmas celebrations started.
Two years ago all the rush was because we were living out of boxes in a friend’s guesthouse while Firwood Cottage was being transformed from a not-very-nice house into a warm and welcoming home. By January I had this nagging sense that I had missed something vital.
Last year I was frantically finishing up edits to my book, afraid I wouldn’t meet my January deadline with any sort of comprehensible story. By the time I finished I realized I had fretted and worried my way through yet another Christmas.
And, while the Day has always been fun and filled with joy in having my whole family together, the days leading up to the Day have felt more like a chaotic, messy, not-very-fun list of too much to do and not enough time to delight.
This year, I have determined, will be different. Not because the schedule is suddenly clear of responsibilities or because circumstances are guaranteed to line up perfectly to plop the gift of joy into each day, but because I am finally figuring out that:
Delight and Joy and Peace and Happiness and Memories must be made on purpose.
This year, rather than rush through the days leading up to Christmas, I am making it my goal to delight in every single day. To relish and cherish the moments rather than race to complete an impossible list of tasks.
But how?
That is the question I keep asking myself, the query I have brought to the Father over and over again.
How do I become a woman who is filled with delight every day?
As I’ve leaned in to listen to the One who calls Himself the Word, the One who delights in being heard , I have sensed something stirring.
A desire. A wish. Maybe even a warning.
Certainly a fleeting feeling that He is speaking something I am as of yet unable to fully hear.
Instead of giving me a one-size-fits-all 3 point sermon on how and why I really ought to get my life together by now and what I must do and not do in order to force myself into being an all-day, every-day smiley person/delighter in God, He is urging me to come up with a list of doings and determinations that are unique to me.
Delight and Joy are gifts. Gifts given by a God who lavishes love on us.
For this month of December I believe God is leading me on a treasure hunt to discover delight.
Will you come along with me on this adventure of discovering how to actually, really, consistently become a person who delights in life and in God? Will you join me for all the days leading up to Christmas and then the days that follow in order to watch and hear and see all those gifts He is waiting for us to find?
I'll be on Instagram every day this month, chronicling my quest @DianeWComer and, if I can ever get it figured out, also on @hespeaksinthesilence. Add the hashtag: adelightfilleddecember I can't wait to see what God is up to!
From a heart ready for a Delight-Filled December,
Diane