this past weekend we started a new series at elevation called "joy genome". wow! what a great sermon and what perfect timing! lately, i have been feeling a little lacking in the joy area. it isn't that i don't have joy in my life or feel joyful on the inside. there are so many things that bring me pure joy. but sometimes, ok, a lot of times, i allow those not so joyful things to overshadow the joy. so on the outside i may not look or feel joyful. i know the joy is there and i just have to let it outshine the not so joyful stuff. i don't want those circumstances to define who i am. i want the joy that is given to me through Christ to define and shine!!
pastor steven said this, it is a key statement to the sermon and to what i am taking away from it...
"My joy is not determined by what happens to me, but what Christ is doing in me and through me."
so i began the week with a new approach to joy! i want joy to explode from me and i want others to see it and i want to be able to really feel it. so i am going to let the good things outshine the bad things that happen every day. i consider those good things a reflection of who He is in me.
i had two moments yesterday where i was overwhelmed with joy! and it made me realize that i want to approach my life with daily reflections on the things that brought me joy and made me feel joyful.
so i am going to share two moments with you...
the first moment was in the parking lot of aldi's (do you shop there, if you don't you have to give it a try!) i was loading up my groceries, when i saw a lady parked next to me and she was wearing her baby in a sling. as she started heading toward the store, she turned back around to go back to her car, she got a floppy seat out of her car and took her baby out of the sling and put him into the cart. i thought to myself, how she reminded me of myself. i often have to figure out if wearing the baby or pushing the baby will work better. sometimes i change my mind and do what she did. as she walked by me, i said something to her about that and then we began chatting. her 6 month old was a sweet chubby baby and she said that she just couldn't get him to fit well in her sling (she was wearing him across her body cuddled up). so i shared with her two different ways she could wear her baby (on her hip and sitting up facing out) in her sling. i loved being able to offer that kind of support to her. i could tell she was encouraged by learning something new! it gave me pure joy to do this for her. it reminded me of the passion that God has put inside of me and how much i love encouraging and supporting other women, especially moms!!!
the second moment was when i was walking into the second grocery store (lowes foods, just opened near our house!) i went to. i put jesiah and jaelyn in a little cart that looked like a car. they were so excited. and just that little simple moment gave me pure joy to look at my kids and be reminded of what a blessing they are to me. it reminded me of a time when i had joshua and jordyn out and about and they were close to the same age as jesiah and jaelyn are. and it made me think about how i have two wonderful big kids in school and i still have two wonderful little kids at home with me. God knows my heart and knows my love for babies and little kids and he has given me four of them!!! i feel so blessed. to be a mom of four kids all in different stages and ages. they keep me so busy and my hands are so full, but i am blessed and they bring me pure joy!!!
what things bring you joy in your life??
if you need a little joy in your life today or need a little reminder about joy...you can hear my amazing pastor preach a great word here!
1 comment:
I had pure joy visiting with you and Jessica on Thursday! That was sooooo good for me. And soooo needed! It was the best time I have had in a while. Thank you for coming! I planned to write a blog post about it, but just can't yet find the words... Have a great day! Blessings!
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