Joy

I love spring!  Things start to finally thaw out and warm up. Plants start to bloom.  The sun seems to shine brighter!  It’s such a time of renewal.

I think this year it’s even more true for me.  It seems like it’s been a long time since I have felt thawed out and bright.  But it’s finally happening!

A friend of mine and I have been each other’s sounding board this past year.  We have both experienced loss in our lives.  That loss has made us both really wonder about so many things.  One of the things she noticed was she pulled away from so many people in her life.  She didn’t even really want to spend time with her family.  Staying at home was fine with her.  I felt the same way.  But I didn’t even want to do anything at home.  I would just sit and watch TV and play on my iPad.

Then one Sunday, my friend’s son preached a sermon that really spoke to her.  She said she just sat and cried knowing that he was preaching the message for her.  It spoke to her hurt, so she shared the link where they had recorded it, and I listened.  WOW!  He had definitely spoken those words for me, too.  The one thing that really broke through, however, was the fact that the joy was still there.  No matter what we were going through, because we were Christians, the joy was there.  We just may have trouble seeing it right then.

Wait a minute!  What?  You mean I still had my joy?  I realized then that he was right!  I was grieving, and that was very real, but I also still had joy!  I have joy in the fact that since I am a Christian and my parents were Christians, I will see them again.  I have joy in the fact that I am living with a Christian husband and raising Christian children.  I have joy in the fact that my husband and I have jobs.  I have joy in the fact that I have a home and friends and my needs are met every day. I have joy!

If you’ve never heard “Old Church Choir” by Zach Williams, you should look it up. There’s a line that says, “I’ve got a heart overflowing ‘cause I’ve been restored.”  That’s how I’m feeling these days, but the main message of that song really sums up how I feel.  “Oh, there ain’t nothing gonna steal my joy.”