No Joy

A few weeks ago we loaded up the van and headed to Strasbourg, France. My parents were here visiting and we thought we'd skip over the boarder and show them this lovely town and stroll through the Christmas market there as well.

The boys were less than excited that they had to 1. get dressed 2. go to "annnooooother town" 3. go to annnoooother Christmas market and finally 4. drive an hour to

get there. They are pretty tired of cute towns that require walking about and after the first two of the year, they are tired of Christmas markets.

As we were driving around looking for parking that would accommodate one American not-so-mini-van, Eli broke his silence to make a definitive declaration "this place has no joy"! He followed that up with a comment about how Strasbourg didn't look very special to him.

This joy he was speaking of was the trappings of Christmas. The lights, the garland, the Christmas stalls set up all over town to sell gifts, decorations, and food.

On the outskirts of town Strasbourg looked quite lame compared to most of the cute towns we take people to, but once you break through the city blocks and get into the old part of the city, the adorable factor explodes and you see the allure of the town. And in December you cannot look anywhere without seeing the "joy"!

Strasbourg is by far the most Christmasy decorated city I have seen to date.

Every single street has lights strung across it. Many buildings are decorated like this one pictured above and the "joy" as Eli called it is simply overwhelming. It is truly so beautiful.

I have no idea why Eli decided to use the term "joy" to explain the beauty of Christmas, but I quite like it.

I think he is on to something without even knowing it. Twinkling lights and presents are just that until you add the joy of Christmas. An evergreen tree gains its beauty when we add lights. Garland and wreaths are quite boring until ribbons adorn them. Some farm animals and a feeding trough are nothing until you lay the savior among them.

Christmas is hectic and pricey and stressful until the joy that is the gift of God's one and only Son becomes the focus.

He is the Joy.