Laughter, Sunshine, and Joy

I have the tendency to take things pretty seriously. Too seriously. I can get so focused that I forget to take time for fun. I overlook the simple joys.

In my times listening to God this week, He's been talking to me with that theme - joy. I feel like He's been telling me to take time each and every day to enjoy something. Just stop whatever it is I'm all serious and intent about, and enjoy. Have fun.

We walked down to the park after dinner the other night. The snow there was still knee deep (on an adult), but the sun was shining and the slides were snow-free. I spent the entire time laughing. Loudly. Hysterically. The dog looked like a dolphin swimming through an ocean of snow. The kids lumbered around like baby elephants, their feet crashing down deep every third step or so.

Pat and I howled at their antics from our perch on top of a picnic table. My heart was ready to burst with all that joy of living.

And I felt God's whisper to my soul...Find the joy every day. Live fully. Live now. Enjoy My gifts.

This morning, I woke late. It's spring break, so I turned off the alarm and snuggled in. When I awoke at 7:48am, I breathed a prayer of thanks and smiled. Knowing that the kids had likely already taken over my quiet time spot, I stayed horizontal and talked with God.

He told me, "Tyler, I have a gift for you today."

What is it?

"Look out the window."

I turned to find clear, blue skies and blinding sunlight.

I felt my Father smile as He said, "That sunshine is for you, daughter. Enjoy."

I will. I most definitely will.



What has God been saying to you lately?

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This post is part of a weekly Lent series, Without Question, where we are taking time to ask God the questions that are on our hearts and listen for His answers. Anyone is welcome to join - for just one post or for the entire series.

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Good Fruit: Joy

Sometimes we have joy because of our circumstances.

When an acquaintance asks the standard question, "How are you?" our reply is "Great!" or "Excellent!" or "Wonderful!" rather than the usual "Fine." We have work that we enjoy. Our family is healthy and/or wealthy. We feel on top of the world. Our joy comes from the fact that life is good.

Sometimes we have joy in spite of our circumstances.

Life is not good. Economic downturn, financial struggles, illness, troubled (or ended) marriage, rebellious children, and so on... Even though these circumstances completely stink, we do our best to find joy somewhere. This kind of joy sounds like, "We may be out of work, but at least everyone is healthy."

True joy, though, is not found in our circumstances or in spite of our circumstances. True joy is found in Christ alone.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

~ John 15:5-11 (emphasis mine)

It seems that Christ has given us a formula for joy:

1. Remain in Him (and His love). (vs. 5, 7, 9)
2. Let Him (and His Words) remain in us. (vs. 5, 7, 9, 10)
3. Bear fruit. (vs. 5, 8)
4. Give God glory. (vs. 8)
5. Keep His commands. (vs. 10)
6. Let His joy be in us. (vs. 11)
7. Our joy is complete. (vs. 11)

Call me crazy, but I don't see anything in here about our circumstances. Good or bad, they are beside the point. Our joy comes when we abide in Him.
 What do you think about this kind of joy - complete joy? Have you ever experienced it? Have you had it and lost it?

For other posts in the Good Fruit series (which, I confess, is taking much longer than 10 weeks to get through), click right here.

Consider it Pure Joy?

I have a confession to make... I struggle between wanting God to answer my prayers and pour out His blessings on me, while also desiring a deeper relationship with Him and experiences that grow my faith to maturity.

I will pray, "Lord, give me a deeper desire to know You and Your Word." Then, when difficult, stressful, frustrating things happen I cry out, "God, what is going on here? Can't You please stop this messy thing that is happening to me?!"

I ask for one thing, then when God begins His work in me - work that will transform my heart and give me that which I've prayed for - I quickly backpedal and begin praying for Him to just put everything back to normal.

It is difficult to remember that life's trials serve a purpose. Our struggles test our faith - we are supposed to draw close to God during such times. Experiencing this testing develops perseverance (determination, persistence, doggedness, diligence, resolution) in us. And perseverance grows us into mature Christ-followers. (Taken from James 1:2-4.)

Our trials serve a purpose. So often we ask God to provide what we want - health, peace, financial provision, a husband, children, and so on - without taking into consideration the possibility that God has a much bigger plan. Possibly, not receiving all that we ask for is the path to fulfilling His plan.

Lysa TerKeurst puts it this way, "We want the promises, but we don't want to get any dirt under our fingernails in the process." (Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl, pp. 201)

Yup, that's me. I want all of the good God assures me of in His Word, but I sure don't want to have to work for it. I don't want to have to struggle and experience pain and heartache in order to experience blessings.

Yet if I haven't experienced that pain, pushed through the struggles, clung to my faith in God, can I even recognize a blessing?

Having spent years in deep debt and financial struggle, I remember to thank God every time I can go to the grocery store and buy whatever I toss in the cart (even if the cart load includes a box of Lucky Charms). If it had simply always been this way - where we needed an item and could go out to get it - I would likely attribute the state of our finances to ourselves. But having experienced times of huge heartache and trials, I am all the more aware that any financial provision has been provided by our Heavenly Father.

I think this is what James means when he says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds." (James 1:2) He's not telling us to be ridiculous and run through the streets exclaiming, "I praise you, Lord, that my child has a disability! I am filled with joy by having a special needs child!" Rather, he's instructing us to have a joy deep in our hearts, because of the knowledge that God is using our trials to mature us and draw us closer to Him.

What is Joy?

Reflecting on the inverse relationship between joy and anger... Digging through the Scriptures to better understand joy... Today my heart settled on this:

Be joyful always.
~ 1 Thessalonians 5:16

On dictionary.com I find joyful defined as "full of joy, as a person or one's heart; showing or expressing joy, as looks, actions, or speech."

I consider my looks, my actions, my words. Do they express joy?

Sure. Usually. Sometimes. Well, occasionally. Definitely not always.

For the next two weeks, as I commit this short passage to memory, I will recite it in my head before I speak. Daily, hundreds of times (I do talk a lot), I will allow God's Word to remind me, and pray that joy overtakes anger, peace overtakes strife, love overtakes irritability.

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Reminder... TGC coming up on Tuesday. Share you God stories.

Keeping it all in Perspective

Sandy's post on Instant Perspective yesterday got me thinking.... She really spoke to my heart, to what I wrote about yesterday.

So, if you knew that your time was limited, what would you NOT do???

Here are a few of mine:

I would NOT be impatient.

I would NOT tell anyone to wait for me to "just finish this one thing."

I would NOT yell.

I would NOT turn down a single invitation for coffee and a playdate.

I would NOT tell my kids they can't paint because "I just don't have it in me today."

I would NOT put off snuggling with my sweetheart so that I could finish just one more load of laundry.

I would NOT let the details of life take priority over the act of living life.

Seriously, what about you?

Replacing anger with thanksgiving

This past weekend was Thanksgiving here in Canada. As is typical for Thanksgiving weekend, I have been running through the list of all the things I am thankful for in my head. And somehow it felt hollow, forced.

I can list hundreds of things in my life that I am grateful for, but if I spend the rest of my week grouchy and irritable, the truth is that I'm actually ungrateful. Right?

So how can a person really celebrate Thanksgiving? As cheesy as it sounds, I think it comes down to having an attitude of gratefulness - which is reflected by joyfulness - throughout the year. A sense of joy in being alive, in our salvation, in our relationships, regardless of circumstances.

We might be running late for an appointment, the children might be misbehaving, I might be feeling annoyed... My typical response would be to bark orders, raise my voice, scowl and growl and rush everyone along. If I were to have thanksgiving in my heart, my response would be more patient, more gentle, less angry.

If a grateful heart is reflected by having joy and peace, does that mean anger comes from an attitude of ungratefulness? As I run my own words through my head (Why won't they listen to me? Obey me? Respect me? Can't I just have a few minutes of peace and quiet? I wish they would stop bickering all the time! They are making me crazy!) I hear the truth. It's all about me - what I want, expect, deserve. Wishing for more, better. Dissatisfied with what I have. Ungrateful. Unthankful. Angry.

It stands to reason, then, that by planting seeds of thanksgiving in my heart I will begin cultivating joy and peace. Replacing the angry with the joyful, with the thankful, with the grateful.

I'm off the spend a few quiet minutes with the Source of joy...