This morning I found in joy in something that I didn't do. For the last eight days, I have left the house before 9:15 a.m., and on five of those days it was before 6:00 a.m. Today, however, I don't have to leave the house until I want to. Happy sigh.
Let me explain to you why this brings me joy. Simply stated: I am not a morning person. Or, perhaps more specifically: I am not a waking up person. The moment the alarm clock goes off in the morning a battle erupts inside of me between logic and flesh. It usually goes something like this:
Logic: It's time to wake up now.
Flesh: NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Logic: Yes it is.
Flesh: I DON'T WANT TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Logic: It doesn't matter if you want to or not, you have to.
Flesh: BUT IT'S TOO EARLY!!!!!!!!!!
Logic: It's the same time you have been waking up for the past three months.
Flesh: BUT IT'S TOO COLD!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO WARM AND COMFORTABLE IN BED!!!!!
Logic: Your loving husband just turned on the heat and you can wear socks and a sweater.
Flesh (Resistance weakening, but resolved to fight to bitter end) : But whhhhyyy do I have to get up?
Logic: So you can make breakfast and spend some time with your husband before work.
Flesh: But, but, but....I could spend time with him from right here in my nice, cozy, soft, warm bed! We don't have to be in the same room, do we? Being in the same apartment would count, right?
Logic: Just get up already.
Flesh: But I don't want to...
Logic: GET UP!!!!!!!
Flesh: Ok, ok. I'm getting up. You may have won this battle but the war is still going on. We will fight another day!
This battle usually lasts for seven minutes if I have to be somewhere in the morning, and longer if I don't. I wish I was one of those people who could wake up and not feel like it's the worst thing that could happen to them today, but I'm not. But the good news is that once my face becomes unstuck from its pinched waking-up frown, and I stop stumbling around into doorways and furniture, and I start replacing groans with actually words, I've most likely made it through the hardest part of my day. However, knowing that I can take it easy for the first couple of hours and not have to rush out the door makes it easier.
That is why this morning while I was sipping my steaming cup of sweet, creamy chai and reading my Bible at the dining room table I was filled with joy. Ok, well maybe I was filled with joy afterwards, because it was still a little too early for me : ) But it was still a blessing that I enjoyed.
May the God of love give you joy today.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Day 2
I had the joy yesterday of seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time. It is amazing to me how you can be friends with someone for years, then drift apart as life takes you in different directions, but then when you see each other it's like you were never apart. That is one of the beauties of friendship, and that brings me joy.
There are so many types of friendships, and I have been blessed with many of them over the years. Growing up I had friends that were basically family and we practically lived in each other houses. I have had friends that I barely talked to in person, but would have long and deep conversations with over facebook. I have friends that I didn't like at first but now share a close bond. Other friends I felt drawn to immediately. I have had long friendships and short friendships, deep friendship and shallow friendships. And the part that I like the best is that there is a place for all of them.
I think that it is hard to come up with what an ideal friend is like because we all look for different things in friendships, but at the root of all great friendships are people that trust each other and enjoy being with each other. Other than that, friendships can look vastly different. I don't have to spend a lot of time with my friends in order to feel close to them, in fact, I can go months without talking to someone and still feel connected to them when we see each other again. A lot of people aren't like that, though, and in order to be a good friend I need to stay in contact with my friends to show them that I still care for them. There have been times when I have been better at that than others, and there is always room to improve.
When you are blessed with good friends in your life, it is indeed a reason to be joyful. Friends are a wonderful gift of God and add so much to ours lives. Also be joyful for the privilege of being a friend. As much fun as friends are, they are also work, and if you don't work at it, then you probably won't have a friend. The best friendships happen when both people look at what they can give, not what they can get out of the friendship. Selfishness is a great destroyer of relationships, and it is also a great destroyer of joy. Pour yourself out, because only then will you have room to be filled.
May the God of peace grant you joy in your friendships.
There are so many types of friendships, and I have been blessed with many of them over the years. Growing up I had friends that were basically family and we practically lived in each other houses. I have had friends that I barely talked to in person, but would have long and deep conversations with over facebook. I have friends that I didn't like at first but now share a close bond. Other friends I felt drawn to immediately. I have had long friendships and short friendships, deep friendship and shallow friendships. And the part that I like the best is that there is a place for all of them.
I think that it is hard to come up with what an ideal friend is like because we all look for different things in friendships, but at the root of all great friendships are people that trust each other and enjoy being with each other. Other than that, friendships can look vastly different. I don't have to spend a lot of time with my friends in order to feel close to them, in fact, I can go months without talking to someone and still feel connected to them when we see each other again. A lot of people aren't like that, though, and in order to be a good friend I need to stay in contact with my friends to show them that I still care for them. There have been times when I have been better at that than others, and there is always room to improve.
When you are blessed with good friends in your life, it is indeed a reason to be joyful. Friends are a wonderful gift of God and add so much to ours lives. Also be joyful for the privilege of being a friend. As much fun as friends are, they are also work, and if you don't work at it, then you probably won't have a friend. The best friendships happen when both people look at what they can give, not what they can get out of the friendship. Selfishness is a great destroyer of relationships, and it is also a great destroyer of joy. Pour yourself out, because only then will you have room to be filled.
May the God of peace grant you joy in your friendships.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Day 1
And so it begins. Even now I am questioning why I am doing this. I already have a blog, why do I need another one? Why another one specifically about joy? What am I trying to accomplish here? Am I ready for this commitment? To be honest, I don't know if I know all of the answers, but let me try to explain them anyway, if not for your benefit than for my own clarity.
Why a blog about joy? I think this is the hardest question for me to answer. I could have a blog about anything, so why pick such a limited topic? I don't know. All I know is that when I thought of it, I was intrigued by the idea. It will be a challege no doubt, and I think I'm looking for a challenge. I want to see if I can do it, to find joy in every day life, the clothes washing (which reminds me: my laundry is done) grocery shopping, food preparing, house cleaning, christian fellowshipping, money making routine which fills my days. Overall, I would say that I am already a joyful person, so this is not going to be a blog about my journey to joy, but rather a journey of finding joy, or rather, of intentionally looking for joy.
This brings up an interesting point: joy is not universal. Something that brings me great joy might not bring you great joy, simply because we are different people. However, I believe that someone can feel joy at another person's joy, even if the situation itself wouldn't normally make them joyful. I can be joyful at my husband having a good day at the golf course, even though I don't enjoy playing golf. This leads me to what I am trying to accomplish with this blog, which is to bring you, my reader, joy through my joy, and to encourage you to live your life looking for joy as well. When I write, I find myself searching to encourage my readers in everything I say, and this blog is no exception. I am writing this for you as much as I am writing this for me.
That being said, let me tell you about a few ground rules. First of all, do not be deceived by the title of this blog. Most of you will assume that 365 Days of Joy means one year, but I am letting you know up front that there are days that I am going to miss. I'm just being honest. There are some days that I am gone from 7 o'clock in the morning until 10:00 o'clock at night. I will not be writing a blog post on those days. Otherwise, however, my intention is to write everyday, and to get to 365 posts, even if that takes longer than a year. Like any good habit, I assume it will be rocky at times, but that is my intention as stated. Secondly, I am not going to write exclusively on joy. As I was looking through quotes on joy to put on my blog, I was struck by how many of them mentioned sorrow and suffering. Don't be deceived, my friend. In order to understand true joy, you have understand true sorrow. There cannot be one without the other. We would not appreciate the sunlight if it was never night, and the same is true for joy. This is not going to be a "happy joy love with rose-colored glasses blog" where everything is happy and perfect, and there will be times when I will wrestle with the things on the other side of joy in order to understand it more fully. When I remember back at some of the moments in my life that filled me the greatest joy, I can also remember the deep pain that surrounded and led up to those moments. I will be sharing some of those moments in my blog later on, but for now just know that there will be suffering in all joy, and that joy is sweeter because of it.
So to conclude, thank you for your interest in my blog and I hope I kept you interested enough to come back tomorrow. I always welcome comments and feedback, so let me know what you think. Where this blog is headed I am not quite sure, but the good news is that the joy is in the journey. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
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