{5 Things Bringing me Joy // vol. 5}

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

- Romans 12:12 (NIV)

It's time for one of my favorite link-ups...Five Things Bringing Me Joy Right Now! We absolutely loved reading all of the posts last month and sharing in the simple joys of life with you. Life can get so busy yet mundane and it's always good to find the joy in the day to day. We all have something bringing us joy, right? We would love for you to join us in sharing your joy.

Details:
Join Beth, Stephanie, Heather and I each month by simply choosing 5 things that are bringing joy to your life and make it a blog post about it. Link-up the post with us on the fourth Friday of every month. This makes it perfect for a Five on Friday post as well. Also, we will be choosing a guest host each month from those that linked up the previous month. Grab the graphic above and join us!

For this month's Joy link-up I chose 5 moments in December that brought my heart so much comfort and joy. Here are those Five things...

{O N E} The Grinch //
Visiting the Grinch! Since this was our 4th visit to Palestine the Grinch and Mase have become pretty good buddies. He spends a ton of time with Mason and they have a blast together. You can just see and feel the joy pouring through and out of Mason and, well, that brings me so much joy! Mason says he is most definitely the Grinch after his heart grew!!

{T W O} Handmade Christmas tree farm art //
My Christmas tree farm Mason made for me at school! We had a rough morning that day. Mason didn't want to go to school and was acting pretty awful. We both ended up in tears. Well, once he got to school he told his teacher that he felt so bad that he made me upset and wanted to make me something. He said he knows how much I love visiting the Christmas tree farm, so he made me one! Oh my word. I love him and I love his heart. He's always paying attention and is so thoughtful like that!

{T H R E E} // Candlelight Christmas Eve Service
While this one hasn't quite happened yet, I know without a doubt it will bring so much joy, peace and comfort to my heart. The candlelight service is my absolute favorite service of the year. It's so moving and special and I love it so.

{F O U R} Favorite Christmas traditions //
The moment I found this paper in Mason's backpack my eyes welled up with tears. The paper asked Mason to share about some of his favorite family Christmas traditions. The first thing on Mason's list was "Celebrating Jesus' birthday". Oh my heart! This made me feel so much joy inside. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the lights, the gifts, the Christmas parties and festivities, Santa, etc. {especially for a 7 year old}, but my sweet boy still knows the reason for the season! And it was the first thing on his list. Of all the times I feel like a failure as a parent this one definitely makes me feel like I'm doing something right!

{F I V E} Breakfast with Santa //

I know it seems odd that my 5th thing is breakfast with Santa right after talking about Jesus being the reason for the season, but there's a point to this. We went to the high school for a fundraiser event to have pancakes with Santa and upon getting in we realized how long the breakfast line was. Mason decided he didn't want to wait in the long line even though we had already bought tickets to eat. Instead of him asking to get our money back he says, "Mom, can we please donate our tickets to a family so they don't have to pay?" Joy....all.the.joy! 

{B O N U S} // All My Hope

I always share a song with these posts. I always pick one that is speaking to me at that home. This month it's All My Hope by Crowder.

I've been held by the Savior
I've felt fire from above
I've been down to the river 
I ain't the same 
A prodigal returned

All my hope is in Jesus
Thank God my yesterday's gone 
All my sins are forgiven 
I've been washed by the blood

I'm so thankful for the hope we have in Jesus Christ!
What is bringing you joy right now?