J

Joy....I read a friend's post today and realized she is so right, so I am going to borrow some of her words and paraphrase. This is a very appropriate thing to be thankful for today amidst the uncertainty in our lives at this time. My friend said Joy is a choice and I thought, what? Hear me out now people. It is a choice. She is totally right. Let me quote from her a little...
"Joy is much different from happiness...true joy is not dependent on circumstance or situation. It is a feeling of peace and rejoicing in the Lord EVEN in the face of some of the toughest stuff this life has to offer. Happiness is temporary, fleeting, it does depend on circumstance. Happiness is not bad, it is just not the same as joy."
So I wanted to do as she has done and think about times in my life when I truly felt joy. It wasn't normally in times of happiness and not even necessarily in sorrow. It was more in times of being tried by The Lord. I remember when Wade was laid off from Nims years and years ago. I was a freelance writer barely working with an infant son. We were out of work and scared of what the future had for us, but instead of being upset or seeing it negatively, we looked in the joy of the situation. Wow, what a great opportunity to move closer to family and that's just what we did. Here we are 8 1/2 years later and we are better for going through that and choosing joy instead of the other alternative.
Things can get us down. It's okay to be sad and frustrated when life changes and you don't anticipate it. It's okay to be fearful, but I believe we should always look to God in those times. It's not easy and it's not a game of pretend. We have to truly believe that God is in control despite life.
My children have this cd and dvd and book that is a great reminder of what we should try to remember. "God is bigger than the boogie man." He is. No matter how tough times get or life is, God is bigger than all of it and NOTHING can happen that He is not able to redeem for His glory. As my friend says, "It is especially in these hard circumstances that we can be a testimony to His goodness by choosing joy."
Today, I am thankful for joy despite the troubles and I am very thankful for my friend Kristy for the great reminder. You are an inspiration to so many of us!
"you are to rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you put your hand to." Deuteronomy 12:18