Tag Archives: joy

Joy In Today

“Joy is often found in the simple things”. 

  1. Raindrops on the window
  2. Patting the dogs/cats heads
  3. Feet in cozy socks
  4. The sound of a baby’s feet on the floor
  5. The laughter of a child
  6. Giggles
  7. Playing with wooden blocks
  8. Rain boots
  9. A hug from my husband
  10. Inside jokes

 

 

  1. Shared stories
  2. Dear friends to share life with
  3. Praying friends
  4. Good books
  5. Walking with the Lord
  6. Knowing I am His
  7. Scripture that reminds me
  8. Good gluten-free chocolate chip cookies while they are still warm
  9. Long sweaters
  10. All the wonderful nuts from my family tree

 

  1. Playing with my daughter and the baby with lots of laughter
  2. Almost done with school
  3. Chores completed
  4. Gray skies and puddles
  5. Having second chances
  6. A son who is almost done with college
  7. A truck that runs
  8. Warm blankets at night
  9. Hot showers
  10. Beautiful roses from my husband

Joy And Pain

“Joy and pain can co-exist.” –Lois Raby 

Her words jumped off the video, right into my heart.

She had lost her husband in a hot air balloon accident when their girls were still young.

Now years later, her daughter was getting married….and her Daddy wasn’t there to witness the great event.

Joy for the wonderful union of her daughter with the man she loved. Pain because of the one that was missing.

The thoughts, the memories, swirl through my mind and touch my heart.

My son has convocation at his school tonight.

He will be honored for all his achievements.

This mama’s heart will be overflowing. So much joy for him, mixed with some sadness for his father who isn’t here to see it.

My son was five when his father died. He was just beginning kindergarten, the autumn we buried his dad.

He was just starting. A sweet and innocent five year old, turning the first pages at school.

Years have come and gone, and he is now a graduating senior, closing this chapter of his life, excited to open the next.

Preparing for this……thrilled for him.

Realizing that joy and pain can and do co-exist.

 

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24  KJV 

 

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A Rich Life

Tomorrow I will turn 46.

The years, they have come and gone, but more than time has shaped me into who I am today.IMG_1195

Although I have never dwelt on my age, I sometimes find it hard to believe.

I guess most of us are like that? Remembering back and looking forward. Wondering when the years changed us.

A full life. A rich life…..

A good life, but not a perfect life.

My life.

The sun is streaming through the kitchen windows. This day is new and fresh and real.

My last day of 45.

An overflowing laundry hamper, an unmade bed. Flowers from Mother’s Day and cookies that my daughter baked. My son sleeping through the pain of having his wisdom teeth removed. Looking forward to my son’s graduation and family visiting. Sun streaming through the house…warmth that shows all the dust. My favorite hoodie and new tennis shoes. Needing to walk more and workout more. Struggling to get things right. A book full of Amish recipes and a brand new llama cria across the road. Birthday cards in the mail and dinner out with my husband. Sweet tea and good books. Blogging and reading glasses. Open fields and practicing songs for church choir. The end of the school year and looking forward to relaxing this summer. Mountain top experiences and trials through fire. Friends that will help me. Family that loves me.

Sure, there is sadness….but, there is also SO MUCH JOY.

Jesus loves me and with God nothing is impossible…and that is always enough, but He chooses to give me so much more.

This whole messed up, mixed up, and completely glorious life is a gift.

 

 

 

 

 

It Always Is A Choice

Someone has left scuff marks all over the floor. Hello! Pick up your feet!      IMG_0214

The toilets need cleaned. Again.

The kitchen sink has scuzzy stuff in the drain covers. Ick.

The cats have scattered their litter all over the floor again…and I step on it, in my bare feet. Ugh.

Frayed nerves and not one more thing!

Poor decisions and consequences that are felt by everyone in the family, cause struggle.

Mud and dirt, and mess and mayhem…

And I  just want to crawl in a dark corner, light one of my scented candles and not deal with it.

Life Is Hard.

It is, isn’t it? Don’t we all feel it?

Yes, there is a lot of good in this life, but why is it so much easier to see the bad?

The lens zooms in on the imperfect, the marred, and the spoiled.

And just when it seems under control, the fabric of life rips wide open.

It is a choice.

I preach to myself.

I know this is true.

God is good, He is always good. His ways are right and His decisions are solid, in an otherwise unstable world.

It is in Him and through Him that I can really see.

With Him I can choose joy. The lens is clearer, sharper somehow.

A choice.

It always is a choice.

 

 

Into His Image

This day, at A Holy Experience, we are writing on: The Practice of Joy…. What does it mean to choose Crazy Joy? How do we authentically walk through hard times? How do we practice the “gigantic secret” of Christians?

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Present

How do we choose joy?  Is true joy a choice, something we make for ourselves? Or does it just happen to us? A whim? A destiny? How can we choose to be joyful on a daily basis? And can real joy change our lives?  I’m not talking about happiness which is circumstance driven. Happiness is a fleeting emotion…it can’t be depended on. I’m talking about a joy that comes from knowing.

I was startled when I first read Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts. Her written words so closely echoed my own thoughts. I could relate, when she said, “When I realize that it is not God who is in my debt but I who am in His great debt, then doesn’t all become a gift? For He might not have.” (p.94)

Doesn’t it all become a gift? It isn’t difficult to find joy. It is there in the every day. Often times I am too rushed, too busy, too self absorbed, too afraid, and much too cavalier to see the joy.

There is something that happens when thanksgiving is being lifted up. Being thankful to the Giver of all Gifts, changes the heart. Each good thing becomes even more precious. Each hard and difficult time shapes me. As a follower of Christ, both of these things conform me into the image of Christ. As a follower of Christ I know that the greatest gift I’ve ever received is the gift of salvation. If I never was given another gift, He alone would be enough.

Jesus is the gift. He is joy…and it is through Him that all the other things make sense.

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The Creator Of It All

English: Wind chime close-up

The drive was slow and meandering.

Stopping the hurry, allows the eyes to see the still life.

White, Amish farm houses and bright red barns.

It looked like a picture from a magazine.

Golden grass swaying under a clear blue sky.

Rain, blessed rain…falling on dry parched ground.

Summer heat giving an appreciation for the cooler temperatures, when they come.

Ice cream cones that must be licked quickly.

Sitting out on the front porch.

Listening to the breeze stir the wind chimes.

So much to be thankful for, so very much.

And God, the Creator of it all.

 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31  NIV

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True Joy Is A Gift

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Image by Ninian Reid via Flickr

Today Bonnie gave us this topic to write on….

Complete the following sentence:  A gift you’ve recently received from God.

Hmmmm….

I feel like I should write something BIG here, or maybe something deeply profound, or life altering. Alas, nothing like that comes to mind.

Over my lifetime, God has indeed given me gifts. Gifts that have forever altered my life. I don’t think that is what I’m going to write about today….Bonnie wants, recently.

The thought that keeps niggling at the back of my mind is the word contentment. Oh God, not that! I don’t consider contentment a “gift”. I’m not even any good at being content. I know. I know. It’s a lesson, right Lord? A lesson, that if I could ever REALLY learn it, would be a gift. A gift beyond measure. You’d think someone who had spent the majority of her life either as a student or a teacher (or both at once) , would be able to pick up on a lesson, right? Be able to catch on quickly? Um…. no.

I am working at contentment. Thank God, He has yet to give up on me.

The other night I was walking back from the barn with my husband. It was dark outside. We were walking together, my arm linked with his. I appreciated the quiet stillness all around us, broken only by the occasional distant moo, or bark. The moonlight made our front yard glow. I was thankful and content in that moment. I suppose it is a gift to be able to truly appreciate in the moment…to be able to consciously step back and be grateful for those minutes in time.

I long to be better at this. Happiness is fleeting. Don’t we all know that? Some days are better than others. I want more than happiness, because feelings are so fickle.

I want joy.

In my mind, contentment and joy are two sides of the same stone.

As I work on being content in all circumstances…God will give me joy.

And true joy IS a gift.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.   Psalm 28:7   NIV

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Being Thankful In The Midst Of…

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Image via Wikipedia

Certain moments in time just make me grin. It could be something as small as a shared smile or laughing out loud. I am becoming more and more aware that happiness is not in the destination. I will never, in this lifetime, come to a place where all is well, everything is perfect, and there are no worries. I am concerning myself less and less with the “if onlys” of life. If only, I could lose weight…then I’d be happy. If only, I didn’t have to worry about money, or had more money…then I’d be happy. If only, I had an exciting job…then I’d be happy. If onlys can be deadly to a life, draining it of the happiness that can be found in the small every day moments of the here and now. Moments that are weaved into each day. Moments that make this  life worth living.

It is a continual learning process for me…and to be honest, I am not always good at it…this learning to be happy and thankful in the midst of the day. In the middle of the moments. The shimmer of light that, on some days, I search for in the darkness. I have much to be thankful for, much to rejoice in, and much to be happy about. So, I keep at it.

Not always easy, this realization.

Not always truly grasped, this epiphany.

But always there…when I look for it. With my eyes wide open.

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*peanut butter M&M’s

*ooey, gooey smores

*laughing, really laughing, with my husband last night

*new email

*racing Hot Wheels cars

*a new pitcher of iced tea

*cat sitting on the windowsill

*family bonds

*people that care about me

*freshly washed bed linens

*early morning sunshine puddled on the living room floor

*driving back country roads to church

*new corn growing

*freshly tilled flower bed

*air conditioner that works

*flag flapping in the breeze

*a trip to the John Deere store, listening to the radio

Joy is a choice. It’s always a choice. Choose to live…right where you are.

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He Made The Blind To See

My eye

20/20 vision doesn’t always mean perfect sight

I know this from experience…

So many days,

more days than I even care to admit…

I choose to walk, blind.

Macular degeneration

can turn into soul disintegration.

How many times do I

choose to walk through my days,

with eyes that see,

but with a heart that doesn’t?

How many times do I purposely choose

to live in the shadows?

When there is joy all around me?

When the news of the day, or the difficulty of the moments

threaten to wipe out my vision

I cling to the ONLY ONE who can give me sight…

He gives me the ability to see that which truly matters.

 “Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”

  Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him. 

Matthew 20:33-34 NIV

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* sunny days in early summer

* remembering

*second chances

* driving back roads

* summer schedule

* evenings on the front porch

* knowing God is in control

* cool morning breezes after oppressive heat

* the name “Mama”

* my husband wanting us to be together

* enjoying each others company

* friendship

* farmers able to plant after a long, wet waiting period

* tractors with headlights in the night

* humming bird at the feeder

* flag blowing in the breeze

* bare feet

* a God that brings hope to the hopeless…

  and Jesus who gives sight to the blind

 

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Will you take a moment to share what you see?

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Life Is Messy

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Image by Sevillano 13 via Flickr

Things happen.

Plans change.

Life is messy.

AND SOMETIMES THE COMPUTER ONLY LEAVES THE FIRST THREE LINES OF YOUR POST AND SENDS THE REST OF IT OUT INTO CYPERSPACE SOMEWHERE!!!

I suppose I should take this as a sign that you were only meant to read the first three lines of my blog post and that is it.

So be it.

Everyone, have a wonderful Friday…and I hope that my deeply profound blog post for today has touched you.

It’s all about perspective after all.

Amen.

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