Do you have joy?

It's December 3rd, and time for our 3rd installment of Songs for Advent. Today we're listening to Phil Wickham's, Joy To The World. This version premiered on Dec 13, 2021 as the official performance of "Joy To The World (Joyful Joyful) for the Live From The Chosen event. The song featured Jordan Feliz, Bryan & Katie Torwalt, Maverick City, The Bonner Family, and of course Phil Wickham.

So, why this song? Simple. It's time to experience the joy that comes at Christmas. We celebrate Christmas to remember the arrival of Jesus on earth. The angels declared His arrival saying, "“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2 10-11 ESV.

Good news of GREAT JOY. Joy. Joy in response to the news, a Savior has been born. The world has waited for this moment. The promise of Genesis 3, enmity, has come. The promise is being fulfilled. What was broken by sin is being made new. Our rebellion meeting reconciliation. Hope, led by joy, has come.
 
The Gospel in flesh. Jesus, the baby born in Bethlehem, will be the one to crush the serpent and bring rescue to all the people.

Here's our question. Do you know the joy? 

This Christmas, we invite you to know the Savior born, Christ the Lord.

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A couple of years ago, one of our favorite holiday songs was by David Crowder, Thanks Giver. Released on November 18th, 2022, the song came as a reminder of God's faithfulness in the lives of His children.

2022 was a rough year. It started with Amy's diagnosis of breast cancer in January. January and February were spent trying to understand the kind of cancer it was and how best to deal with it. March through April was prepping for her coming surgery. May 2, in a 15 hour surgery, the cancer was removed and the 8 to 10 week recovery process began. But 2 weeks after the surgery, something went wrong and we were back for another multi-hour surgery. Now, more recovery.

In June, Amy's dad went into the hospital, then hospice, then passed. That was June 11th. Just days after his passing, Jay's dad went into the hospital. On July 4th, he passed. A couple of days later, Toby, our family Goldendoodle of almost 14 years suddenly passed. It was a rough summer.

2022 also marked the beginning of our kids leaving the nest. Our oldest had moved to Florida in 2019 for school. In 2022, he official became a Floridian. In January of 2022, our second born moved to New York. By February, he was married. An our third born, his job was taking him to Florida for 2 to 4 weeks every couple of weeks. 

By mid fall we were physically, emotionally, and spiritually empty. We decided to step out of ministry to allow for some time to grieve, heal, and seek God. As the holiday's approached, we started a season of transition. Our son, Logan, was the first to hear the song and sent it to Amy. At first listen, we knew this song would become something significant for us. Over the weeks that led to Thanksgiving, then Christmas, it was. And, to this day, the lyrics take us back to that season and the reminder that God gave.

The song begins with main character heading home for Thanksgiving and the anticipation of begin together with family and friends. The chorus takes us right to the truth that God is faithful and good and the One holds us in his hand. Verse two takes us into the Christmas season and the gift of Jesus and what that means for us. 

It was what we needed to hear; that in all that we were experiencing, the hard, the hurt, the grief, the fear, the God was still God and we had much to give thanks for.

I don't know what you might be experiencing this year, but as we step into the Advent season, can we encourage you with this reminder. God is still God. And He loves you. He is moving in your story. He is never far from you.

- Merry Christmas

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Welcome to day 2 of our Christmas in July celebration. All week long we are sharing some of our favorite posts, vlogs, and Christmas fun from over the years. Yesterday we kicked off the celebration with our 2023 living room decorating vlog. Today, we want to bring back a blog post that shares one of our most favorite Christmas traditions. 

When the kids were younger, we read a set of books that helped us  move through the Advent season towards Christmas. This series has become a treasure, having read each book with our kids. We continue to promote and share these books hoping that you and your family would come to love this Advent tradition.

Take a few minutes to read our original post from last November 2023. If the idea of these book encourages you, we would invite to you to order the series. Simply click on the book covers to over from Amazon. As you know, we are Amazon Affiliate Partners. When you purchase products that we recommend and share, using the links we provide, we receive a percentage of the purchase, at no additional cost to you. 

Now, let's get to today's post!

A number of years ago, the Higham family was introduced to an exciting Advent tradition. While serving as the youth pastor, our friends from the church asked if we had ever read a book called, Jotham's Journey, by Arnold Ytreeide. Of course we had not. But they said that this beloved story was an Advent must for their families. 

As the Christmas season approached, a family in the church shared their copy of Jotham's Journey with us. We started Advent and we began reading the first book of this 4 part series. Unfortunately, that year, our kids were still a little too young, and had a hard time finding interest in the story. The stories themselves included an intense glimpse of how life might have been during that time. There's suspense, drama, emotional moments, and cliffhangers that will keep the family on the edge of your seats. But by the next year, are kids were ready and we tried again. Success!

Advent is all about preparing for Christmas and the arrival of the Christ-child. From lighting candles to sharing in various devotions, the idea of having some kind of family Advent tradition is nothing new. But these adventurous storybooks help to reimagine the Nativity Story that helps the family prepare for Christmas morning.

Jotham's Journey was the first storybook we read as a family during Advent. Each chapter serves as a daily reading to be shared with the family. Each chapter stretches the adventure, leading both Jotham and the reader on an amazing journey. Within a couple of chapters our kids were hooked. Suspense, mystery, adventure, sword fights, good guys, bad guys, and edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers make this series an exciting must read Advent tradition. And it's been our tradition ever since.

We love these books and we want to share them with your family this Advent season!

Advent is an important part of the Christmas season. It helps to prepare our hearts for the arrival of the Christ-child. This year (2024), Advent begins on Sunday, December 1st. It would be great to think through what your Advent will look like. Daily devotions, candle lighting,  calendars, and LEGOs, there are plenty of ways to celebrate and prepare. If you would like to use the Jotham series with your family, now it the time to order your books. You can order using our Amazon affiliate links from this page. Because we are Amazon Affiliates, we earn a percentage of the sale without any additional cost to you. This percentage earned, helps to keep Life in the Higham House up and running.

If you have any questions about the series or Advent, or if you have a Advent tradition you practice with your family, we would love to hear from you! Please leave a comment below! If you are looking more Advent or Christmas ideas and fun, be sure to click on these links!

Thanks for reading!

​- jay & amy

We love our church, The Church of Eleven22. This past Sunday, was the start of the Advent season, and week one of our teaching series, Unwrapping Christmas. Pastor Joby presented one of the best messages about Christmas and the gospel! It was a powerful reminder of God's love for us, His purpose and plan for sending Jesus, and what the gospel looks like.

This Advent/Christmas season, we want to encourage you to rethink your Christmas and to consider for yourself, this gift that God has given to us through His Son, Jesus. Take a few minutes and listen or watch Sunday's message, Christmas From Eternity, with Pastor Joby. We hope it helps to set your holiday season in the right direction.