Joy

In October, the kids were learning about the Fruit of the Spirit - JOY.  In a video that they watched, this was said about joy:

"People sometimes confuse joy with happiness.  Happiness has to do with how we feel when things are going well.  Biblical joy is produced by the Spirit of God in us.  Joy is the inner knowledge that God is in control of our circumstances and means them for our good, no matter how unpleasant or painful they may be."

It is easy for many of us to confuse joy and happiness.  Happiness is a feeling but joy goes deeper than just a feeling.  I knew that September would be overwhelming and busy with work but thought that October would bring with it a settling of sorts.  However, I found October to be a challenging month.   Work was still all consuming and I had not found the balance I desired.  I joked with a girlfriend that I have gotten good at balancing - on my head, maybe.  Things just seemed busy and turned life upside down a bit.  I also found that although joy was a focus at school for our students, that the staff was already feeling weary, tired, overwhelmed, and many seemed to be lacking joy.

In a devotion from Kay Warren from her book, "Choose Joy: Because Happiness Isn't Enough," Kay speaks about how finding joy is a challenge for her as she is not naturally an upbeat person.  She felt that her definition of joy needed to be more closely aligned with scripture.  She came up with the following:

"Joy is the settle assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation."

I find this definition to be freeing as we know that God is indeed in control of all the details and that we need to trust Him.  In that trust, we are able to praise God in all situations and we find joy.

Life is not always easy but it is good.  Kay uses a picture of two train tracks running side by side that make up our life.  On the one track is joy.  It is full of the many wonderful and good things that bring contentment to our life.  The things that bring beauty and joy.  Then the track that runs parallel to this is sorrow.  It is the moments in life that we face challenges that include hurts and disappointments.  But in the midst of it all, we are experiencing an amazing life.  Even when the hurts are there, we know that we can find beauty.  Life isn't perfect and despite our circumstances, we can always find something to bring joy and to be grateful about.

The amazing thing about train tracks on the horizon is that they become one.  You can't distinguish the tracks.  And so it is in life.  We experience joy and we experience sorrow but together they merge and become the life we have lived.  And one day, when we reach heaven, it will make sense to us as God opens our eyes to His divine plan for our life.

One morning while I was feeling quite overwhelmed, I opened my e-mail to a devotion titled, "Morning Joy."  It was timely.  The picture grabbed my attention as I love landscape photos.

The opening sentence spoke to me as it was exactly what I felt as I the kids and I drove to school that morning.  "Ohhhh, the first breath of the cool morning air, the sun is just beginning to pink the eastern sky...I love this God time!  I want to twirl around with out-stretched arms in praise to my awesome Creator God."  Each morning for the past few weeks, the kids have noticed how beautiful the sky has been and have praised God for it.  What an amazing start to the day!  This devotion went on with a poem of gratitude for some every day moments and the last line ended, "But for this moment I am completely consumed with joy.  I thank thee, Lord.  Hallelujah!"

This devotion and the one from Kay Warren, prompted me to stop and quiet my soul so that I could reflect on the sorrow and the joy.  I keep a gratitude journal and I love taking time to reflect on life and documenting the little things that I am grateful for.

It is amazing when I stop and do this that I see the many blessings that are otherwise so easily overlooked when life gets busy.  It is these quiet moments that help to uplift my spirit and remind me of the joy that overflows in my life.  In the tough times and the good times.  The joy of the Lord is my strength - it is not my own joy but the joy that I find in Him.

How can you find joy in the journey and let God's joy shine through you?

Christmas is one of my favourite seasons and is just around the corner.  The kids were thrilled over the snow that fell today, even though it only lasted the day.  I loved seeing their faces light up as they watched the flakes fall.  And it is red cup time at Starbucks...

Choose JOY!  Spread JOY!