joy

Quotes

Nothing super profound from my own head today.  Just some quotes from a Joyce Meyer study I’m doing!

These two deal with the painful issues from the past –

“I encourage people to let go of their past, but never to run from it.  The only way to gain victory over the pain of our past is to let God walk us back through that doorway of pain and into victory.”

We have to let God take us through things and let Him work in us so our mess becomes our message. Difficult things that we have endured in our past prepare us for God’s blessings in our future.”

(Can you tell which phrase really jumped out at me?!)

These were on the subject of joy –

“We will never enjoy life unless we make a quality decision to do so.  Satan is an expert at stealing and our joy is one of his favorite targets.  Nehemiah 8:10 tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength.  In John 10:10 we are told that “the thief” comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but that Jesus came that we might have and enjoy life.  Satan is the thief, and one of the things he seeks to steal is our joy.  If he can steal our joy from us, we will be weak; and when we are weak, the enemy takes advantage of us. Weak believers are no threat to him and his work of destruction.  In order to live as God intends for us to live, the first thing we must do is truly believe that it is God’s will for us to experience continual joy.  Then we must decide to enter into that joy.”

“Joy and enjoyment are available just as misery is available.  Righteousness and peace are available and so are condemnation and turmoil.  There are blessings and curses available, and that is why Deut. 30:19 tells us to choose life and blessings.”

And this was probably my favorite!

“Regardless of how it may happen or who may be responsible, it is hard to go on when everything we have counted on falls down around us.  That’s when those of us who have the creative power of the Holy Spirit on the inside can get a new vision, a new direction, and a new goal to help us overcome the downward pull of disappointment, discouragement, and destruction.”

Still “mentally chewing” on all of these so I’ll just let you do with them what you will! Enjoy!

Blessed

I don’t know why, but my thoughts today were preoccupied with the “everyday blessings” in my life.  I mean, there are MANY worse ways to spend a day, right?! (Actually, I should have said “yesterday” since it’s after midnight!)

My eldest has recently started a new job and she really enjoys it.  Granted, there are specific tasks that don’t thrill her but overall, she likes going to work.  And she’s made a good enough impression on her bosses that she has been trained to close her department.  I’m very impressed by her professionalism on the job.  (And she enjoys the job so much, she’s considering getting a marketing degree!)

My second and third born children both got into the colleges of their choice for the fall – number 2 is transferring from the local community college and number 3 just graduated high school.  Couldn’t be prouder of the two of them!

My son decided back in December that he wanted to make Acapella choir for next year (his Junior year).  He set a goal, focused on the work he needed to do and made it!  Again – super proud of his hard work.

In my 40’s I have FINALLY figured out what I want to be when I grow up and a very dear friend has stepped in to help make a very big dream come true.  I’m not “there” yet but the first steps have been taken and the forward progress is faster than I expected!

Hubby and I have had the chance to have some AMAZING conversations about matters of faith lately and he was an amazing source of support and encouragement as I was working my way through a rather rough patch.

My family is not perfect.  My house is a bit of a mess.  I probably have a bad habit or two that I need to break and a good habit or two I should pick up.  I’m sure if I looked long and hard enough, I would find some things to get cranky/whiny/unpleasant about.  But you know what,  I much prefer ending the day with a smile on my face and an overwhelming sense of peace.  So I will mull over my “boring” blessings for a few more moments before I turn in for the night.

How Deliberate was I?

Just a week ago, I posted a blog about some deliberate choices I was going to make this past week.  Since I am a big believer in accountability, I decided to fess up to how I did.  Here is the list and the updates.

. . . take moment to just breathe and be in the moment.  Actually, managed to pull this one off twice.

. . . tell the most important man in my life just how much I respect the amazing person he is and how proud I am of him. Got down to the wire on this one but was able to spend some time on an abbreviated date with hubby last night and point out some very specific things he’s done that I respect.

. . . reach out to those I love and tell them specifically and honestly why they matter so much to me. Didn’t do as well here as I’d like.  Definitely told family members I loved them, but not quite everybody in my extended family nor with the specificity I had hoped.  Guess I need to work on this one this week!

. . . pause from the busy-ness of life and come up with at least ten things to be grateful for that are not food, home or health because those are easy to come up with.  Nailed it!  Of course, I had the mini-goal of at least two a day which would technically give me more than my ten but I made it!

. . . lose myself in listening to a favorite piece of music or album, letting the music be the focus of what I am doing and not background noise. Yes!!  Spent some time lost in two songs that touch my heart!

. . . look for an opportunity to reach out to a friend in need.  I’d like to say I did.  I mean, I definitely tried to reach out.  Just hope it translated to the other person!

. . . do at least three “crafty” or creative things simply for the joy of expressing myself.  New recipes – four of them just tonight – to say nothing of the new song lyrics I started working on!

. . . spend at least an hour lost in a good book. It wasn’t all at one time, but I did get in a total of more than and hour reading.

. . . find one good thing to rejoice in everyday.  Yep!  Of course, working with a great bunch of high school and college age kids on a theater show makes it easy.

. . . laugh often and loudly, not caring who might hear or think I’m weird.  Not as often as I would like, but managed to do it a few times.

. . . start learning a new piano piece (just because I can!).  Yep!  It’s no where near ready for others to hear it, but started.

So I guess I still have a few of my goals that can be worked on this week.  It’s good to have something to work for!