Mercy Christmas

I absolutely swapped out "mercy" for "merry".

Merry implies smiles and fun and cares that are miles away.

Mercy implies help that got me through.

Here in the South we say, "Lord, have mercy."

It is kind of generic and it can fit many occasions.

But....for me...and for this Christmas...the Lord had mercy.

Shep set up the tripod on our front porch and we took a stab at taking some pictures for our Christmas card.  There was one minor setback with our strong-willed child.  But, other than that, it was gold.  We laughed and actually enjoyed the picture taking process.

I just had to let you in on the meltdown picture. 

But look at the quick recovery.

Mercy Christmas.

Ava participated in the ballet presentation of The Nativity.  It was a lot of driving back and forth and basically took up an entire weekend.  There was so much to do the last weekend before Christmas.  It seemed my time could have been better spent in other ways than just being the mom chauffeur. 

But somewhere along the way I was captured by the performance and the baby that God sent to redeem me.

Ava was breathtaking to watch as she danced for her King!

Mercy Christmas!

The puppy is a big adjustment.

Making sure he likes his crate.
Making sure he gets enough play time.
Making sure he has chew toys on hand.
Making sure he has been out to do his business.
Making sure we aren't gone too long at one time during the day.
Making sure we correct behavior we don't like and reward behavior we do like.

This has required loads of mercy. 

Thankfully my husband helps out so much. He is basically the puppy whisperer in our house.  The kids help too. 

And Jasper really is a good pup.  It is just taking the rest of us a while to adjust.  I am pretty sure he is unaware of any stress at all. 

Mercy Christmas!

We enjoyed listening to Pentatonix this entire Christmas season. 

Our favorite songs were Drummer Boy, Mary Did You Know, Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy and That's Christmas to Me.

We rode around and looked at Christmas lights and ooohed and ahhhed at the homes of folks that went all out. 
We also kind of laughed (in a good way) at those houses that seemed to throw lights up in no order or fashion at all.
It was a good time and a Helton tradition.

We have eaten such delicious food.  Ava and I have a new favorite: homemade peppermint marshmallow fudge.  Thank you Tom for thinking out of the box and making it.

Santa was good to us.  Here we are on Christmas morning.  These pictures always make me laugh.  You can't ever hide that just rolled out of bed look.

The greatest gift in my life is this man.  God gives me mercy each and every day by having a partner that is all in with me.  He chases hard after the Lord.  He lives it.  He is a man of prayer.  He is diligent and giving and honest and kind and strong.  Standing next to this guy helps shoulder the heavy load that we have been given.

The Lord and I have been talking about next year.  I am not usually one to get hung up on new year resolutions.  But I have been convicted that there are areas that God would like to work on in my life.  It is my job to give Him access to those areas.  I have a huge problem with looking to the future and hoping for better days.  There is joy to be found now....today.
I have already begun looking for the joy that is here.  Even on a really hard and trying day~ joy can be found. 

Merry Merciful Christmas!