They hang right there... on a curtain rod just above our living room window... just three letters, J-O-Y... a small, yet very powerful word. Joy. Yes, JOY!
Just a few days ago... on Monday morning... the week was sharping up with its share of challenges already. And it continued on... each new day adding a new challenge to the previous day's challenges!
When sinus pain hits me without warning and my asthma acts up... I give thanks for medications and puffers. I choose joy!
When the technology goes haywire at one of hubby's clients and he spends long hours researching for a fix... I give thanks for the intelligent and hard-working man that I married. I choose joy!
When my boy comes hobbling home with torn/strain ligaments in his ankle... I give thanks that he's an active boy who loves the game of basketball and for easy access to our family doctor who tells us to come right over when I phoned. I choose joy!
When dinner isn't ready because I am overwhelmed with meeting a deadline at work... I give thanks for easy meals at the local mall's food court and for an hour or so to stroll around the mall with both my kids. I choose joy!
When our car battery dies and our whole family is stuck in downtown Toronto until past 10pm on a weeknight {with me feeling under the weather and my boy wearing an air-cast for his ankle} waiting for CAA Roadside Assistance to arrive... I give thanks for some unexpected time to hang out with our church family. I choose joy!
When I wake up with a sore throat this morning and feeling very run-down... I give thanks that I don't have to go out because I have a work-from-home job. I choose joy!
YES! I will choose joy...
More than that, I will celebrate joy... for it says in the Bible, "the joy of the Lord is my strength. (paraphrased from Nehemiah 8:10)"
More than that, I will celebrate joy... for it says in the Bible, "the joy of the Lord is my strength. (paraphrased from Nehemiah 8:10)"
As long as thanks is possible, then joy is always possible.
While I may not always feel joy, God asks me to give thanks in all things, because He knows that the feeling of joy begins in the action of thanksgiving.
~ Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts.
This month of October, I am participating in a blog link up called 31 Day Series. I will be writing about Celebrating JOY! Click on the banner below for 1000+ other topics!
Compassion is a command, an act of worship, a song of thanks to Him.
Do justice. Love mercy. Walk humbly with God!
I'm curious to know where you got your letters that hang from the curtain rod. Did you make them?
ReplyDeleteHi Jill... I got them from Michael's... it's a craft store. Then I spray painted them. :-)
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