Everyday Joy
Joy was the word I chose for 2017. Now 39 days in, it is something I’m choosing to practice, everyday.
Melancholy was a word once used to describe my personality, I’d rather go with thoughtful and sensitive!
I’ve long admired those sanguine types, whose happy countenance seems to spread joy wherever they tread.
And I know that having an Eeyore type personality while wishing to be Winnie the Poo is not productive!
No, joy comes from a deep acceptance of how God has wired me, with plenty of grace for those who are different.
So how to practice joy, in the everyday?
My girlfriend inspired me to start a joy journal, and each day I write down three moments of joy. I also write down joy quotes from what I’ve been reading.
Which sets me on a joy quest every day!!
Yesterday the joy was lovely, for we spied a hummingbird fluttering just outside the patio of the home where we are holidaying. And then it settled into the tiniest nest I’d ever seen!!
I recognized that the hummingbird bird had been there all along, and us here a week! But I had not noticed. It spoke to me again of the presence of God, our Creator, always present. But am I attentive enough to notice, to be aware?
I also came across this verse from an ancient prophet, Habakkuk, this week, about joy. The word that stood out to me was “YET”. No matter what the day holds, I can choose joy, and look for those joy moments.
“Yet I will be joyful in the Lord, I will rejoice in God my Saviour”. -Habakkuk 3:18
