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Joy!

I don't know about you, but I can't help but smile when I see this picture.  Yes, this is my baby boy when he was about six weeks old.  From the very beginning of his life, his infectious smile and contagious laughter have incited even the most serious of people to let down their guard long enough to elicit a chuckle.  He's a young teenager now, but he still has the ability to unravel the most serious of intentions and get everyone around him, at the very least, smiling.

Oh what joy!  Have you ever known anyone in your life that brings such joy to you?  Isn't it delightful to just sit in their presence and bask in the glow of their joy?  It's different than being with someone humorous or someone who can crack a good joke.  It's also different than just being around someone who seems to be "happy" most of the time.  A joyful person soothes your soul.

Though all of my children are treasures to me in their own different ways, this last little one to join our family has brought that contagious joy to our family in a very unique way.  I don't know how many times we have been sitting around the dinner table having a SERIOUS FAMILY DISCUSSION, and this child will pop up with phrase or statement that stops all of us in tracks, usually ending up in laughter.  He's not even trying to be funny most of the time--he's just thinking and speaking out loud what is in his head.  One day while we were schooling and studying science, we were reviewing the four life stages of an insect.  Joey was excited and said, "Mom, mom, mom...I know the four life stages of an insect!"  "You do?"  I replied.  "What are they?"  Excited and feeling confident that he had this lesson down, he quipped off, "Birth, growth, adultery, and death!"  Of course I couldn't contain my laughter and soon the whole household was roaring with shrieks and giggles.  Not realizing what he had said, he just laughed right along with us.

I could share with you many more "quips and quotes" which I now affectionately call, "Joeyisms", but  I want to turn your focus to the joy of God.  How difficult is it, at times to have joy in the Lord, especially in the midst of trials, pain, heartache, and disillusionment?  How many times do we earnestly seek to have joy in the Lord?  I know I'm guilty of focusing many times on what I don't have, what isn't going right in my life, asking God for this or for that, seeking prayer for those who are sick, hurt, etc....yet I simply don't praise God for being....God.  When I do focus on him, I find that joy that has been absent in my life.  I do find that smile creeping into my face and I sense that God is delighted in me!

Joy is like a balm for our soul.  It heals.  It deepens our faith and our understanding of God's ways.  It helps us to see through our pain, rather than looking for a way around it. Joy is a part of the fruit of the Spirit and should be as natural for us as laughing.....yeah, me too....still working on that!  I want to be that person that reflects God's joy, because he lives in me.  Wanna come join me?

"I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.  Those who look to him are radiant with joy!  Their faces will never be ashamed."  Psalm 34:4-5 (HCSB)

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