Choosing joy... I know my daughter is safe and we're not frantically hanging posters, lighting up Amber Alert billboards and praying for her safe return. My husband is at work and will come home and take care of me; he's not gambling or in a hotel with a girlfriend or scoring drugs. I have fresh water flowing from my faucets, at will, and not toting it from a river 5 miles away, boiling it first so my family doesn't get dysentery. I can kneel on my porch if I choose - in full view of my neighbors- and pray to my heavenly Father, without fear of men with automatic weapons nearby ready to send me to meet Him. I can even wear stripes and plaids, with a polka-dot shower cap, and the only consequence is my daughter pointing and laughing! More joy, yesss! Thank you, Lord, for the things I sometimes take for granted.
Choosing joy...a family friend had a baby Tuesday. I can understand how one can look around at the streets, see what humans can do to one another and not believe in my loving God. But how can you look at a baby and not believe? There is a brand, spankin' new human where one did not exist 9 months ago! A baby like no other that has ever been created or ever will be created; the fingerprints of God cover Baby Rivers and every other human. It's what we do with the mold He created that counts. (And on days like today, I think there's mold ON my mold!) Baby Rivers' fingerprints are not only unique from any other person, each of the 10 prints are unique from each other. And that is supposed to be derived from some ancient ball of gas tumbling through the universe? Really?! Come on, I also figured out the lady at the magic show ain't really being cut in half, either. Reading Lee Strobel's The Case for Christ truly helped me with the science and history aspect of my witness. Welcome to the world, Rivers. More joy for me! Thank you, Lord, for the every day miracles that surround us.
The fibromyalgia has made it increasingly harder for me to write for long periods of time. Love journaling but was basically grinding to a halt. What to do? I thought blogging was for full-time and freelance writers; didn't realize, duh, that it is whatever you want it to be. Read the blogs of Kristen Davis and Julie Dennard and they inspired me. Inexplicably, typing is more comfortable so I could journal in the form of a blog just as they do. I may be a bit slow on the uptake but I eventually catch on. Now one of my bestest friends, Mickie, a writer with her own weekly column, has begun reading my blog and loves it. She even asked to quote/borrow from it. Wow, high praise coming from someone whom I greatly admire; a true daughter of the South and an extraordinary wordsmith. Yep, found some more joy! Thank you, Lord, for sending these women to inspire me.
Scout is home from school and now piled up on the bed next to me. A teenager not only speaking to her mother, but hanging out with her. Do signs and wonders never cease?! Oops, is that more joy coming my way? I do believe it is. Thank you, Lord, for challenging me to choose joy!
Love to all y'all!
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