Don’t Confuse Happiness with Joy

I heard a preacher on the radio the other day say that you can measure the depths of your fellowship with the Lord by the amount of joy you have in your everyday life.  God has taught me a lot about biblical joy over the last 5 years.  The bible says that in God’s presence there is FULLNESS of joy.  So the more I intentionally seek the presence of God, the more joy I will have.  But what about those days, weeks, seasons, etc. that are pretty much poo on a plate?!?  That is where we must understand the biblical definition of joy versus the world’s definition of joy.

The world uses joy and happiness interchangeably, but they are not the same.  Happiness is dependent on your circumstances.  To some, happiness might be sipping a Starbucks coffee with a good book.  Others might find happiness on payday.  Yet others might find happiness when life presents an exciting new challenge (i.e. new job, a mission trip, a move to a new city, etc).  Regardless, happiness is temporary.  It can be here in a moment and gone in the next.  Unhappiness takes over as circumstances change.  God is the creator of everything, including emotions.  They are part of life.  There will be seasons of life for all emotions.

But Joy!  That does not have to be temporary.  Walking with God produces a joy that is beyond our circumstances.  The bank account is empty?  Boom, God said He is my provider.  Someone close to me is very ill?  Bam, God said He is my comforter, the healer, my ever present help in times of trouble.  A friend just betrayed my trust?  Boom, God said He would never leave me nor forsake me.  I feel lonely and discouraged?  Bam, God said He is with me always.  There is not a place I can go to hide from Him. 

One single taste of this joy will leave you hungry for more.  There is POWER in this joy.  There is power to see heaven move on your behalf.  There is power knowing that this joy comes from the one sitting at the right hand interceding on your behalf.  We must seek the presence of God above everything.  Above religion, familiarity, comfort, tradition, theology…everything.  I dare you to seek out this joy!  100% satisfaction guaranteed!

They are not naughty...

The other day I took the sweeties to the school playground a few blocks away.  School was out for the day but we shared the playground with those kids in the after school program.  We went about our business playing on the slides and swings, but it wasn’t hard to get distracted with the happenings taking place with the other kids and adult supervisors.  In particular there were these twin boys who were making their presence known; fighting with each other, throwing mulch, teasing the other kids, etc.  These two could not have been more than six years old.  My heart instantly felt for them.  It was obvious that the supervisor’s familiarity with these two had created a lack of patience and understanding when dealing with them.  These were probably the same antics that these two pulled yesterday on the playground and the day before that.  At one point the boys were serving time for one of their crimes and the teacher called them naughty as she was putting them in time out.  I was dumb founded!  You are going to label these two young kids as naughty and then act surprised when they only act the way in which you’ve labeled them?!?  The teacher seemed more interested in getting back to her conversation with the other adult supervisor than she was with dealing with these two boys that needed correction.

What struck me is how I could see the damaging words this teacher used because I had fresh eyes.  I don’t deal with these two boys every day and my patience wasn’t worn thin.   How often do I respond in anger, frustration or annoyance with my own kids because I am familiar with them?  “I just told you 5 minutes ago that we don’t scream inside!”  I might not use the words naughty or other harmful labels, but my tone is still telling them that I am annoyed and I don’t have the time or patience for loving correction.

I will keep working on this…

Dreams Continued

I thought I would follow up my last post on dreams with some very specific examples of how God has used dreams to speak to me.  For those of us that dream a lot, dreams can become very common place that we tend to overlook their significance.  In many of my dreams, God isn’t speaking something that is highly profound and mind blowing (although I’ve had those dreams as well).   It is usually something very simple and often times a revelation for someone that needs encouragement.  I can think of three very simple dreams off the top of my head that allowed me to speak specific revelations of exactly what certain individuals needed to hear in that moment.  It is so fun being God’s mouth piece!

One of these dreams happened over three years ago.  An old friend who I had minimal contact with had just given birth.  I dreamt that she was having issues trying to breast feed.  I decided to send her an email the next day to see if this was true.  It was in fact very true!  She was having major issues and was very frustrated (especially since this was her first child and she was putting pressure on herself to make everything perfect).  I kindly told her to relax and if breast feeding didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.  That is what God wanted to tell her in that moment.  Nothing earth shattering.  He simply wanted to tell His daughter that she was doing a great job as a first time mom and it didn’t matter if she mastered the art of breast feeding.

Another dream came a few years ago for a co-worker.  I dreamt that he was in line for a new job at work.  God showed me the specific job that he was going to be offered.  In the dream he was nervous about accepting it, but then by the end of the dream he was excited for the new challenge.  I talked with him the next day at work and guess what?!?  He had been offered that very job a few days prior and the picture in the dream was exactly how he felt about it.  It was really skeptical of the new responsibilities, but he was starting to feel a peace that this was the direction that God was taking his career.

I’ll give one more example.  Two summers ago I dreamt that a friend of mine in another state was about to go on a 12 month maternity leave.  I had no idea if this friend was even pregnant so I emailed her the next day and told her of my dream.  She was in fact just a few weeks pregnant and she and her husband were concerned because she was having some spotting.  I told her that my dream confirmed that God is saying everything is going to be ok.  He’s created this life and has it all under control!  She was so relieved that I shared that revelation.  This baby is now a very healthy toddler boy! 

God is so cool!  There is no greater joy than to co-labor with him on this earth.  Dreams can be such a significant way that He can speak directly to you.  Believe it.  Boom, Bam!  

Dreams

Dreams are beyond fascinating.  Do you long to hear God’s voice more clearly?  Start paying attention to your dreams and write them down.  Ask God to speak to you in your dreams.  It is amazing!  God will start giving you insight and wisdom for your life and the life of those around you.  Find someone that is trained in biblical dream interpretation to help you with some of the more complex dreams (we have such a guy in our church and he is fascinating!).  God usually speaks pretty point blank to me in my dreams (not a lot of interpretation necessary).   I guess He understands that he has made me to be left brained (sure, you can call me nerdy)…I need things to be pretty black and white!  Happy dreaming! 

Beautiful Poem

I came across this wonderful poem in a book that I’m currently reading (Choices by Mary Farrar).  It spoke to me and I thought maybe it would speak to you too.  I don’t know why we live this way, but it’s so true!  Smell a rose today J

Present Tense

It was spring…but it was summer that I wanted.

The warm days and the great outdoors. 

It was summer…but it was fall I wanted.

The colorful leaves and the cool, dry air.

It was fall…but it was winter I wanted.

The beautiful snow and the joy of the holiday season.

It was winter…but it was spring I wanted.

The warmth and the blossoming of nature.

I was a child…but it was thirty I wanted.

To be mature and sophisticated.

I was middle-aged…but it was twenty I wanted.

The youth and the free spirit.

I was retired…but it was middle-age I wanted.

The presence of mind without limitations.

My life is over.  But I never got what I wanted!

A Few Differences, A Few Things the Same

So as I stated a few weeks ago, I am officially retired from the corporate world.  I’ve gone from a working mother to a laboring mother.  So far the new adventure is absolutely fantastic!  I thought I would share a few of the differences and similarities between my former life as a corporate manager and my current life as a toddler manager. 

·         Only about 2% of my requests in the corporate world were greeted with a “why?” and usually this “why?” was justified.  In toddler speak, about 99.9% of my statements are answered with a “why?”  “Why did God make the sun yellow?”  “Why do we go this way to the library?”  “Why don’t you know, mommy?”

·         Spontaneous dance parties were not part of corporate life.  On a real jumpy day, spontaneous coffee breaks might offer some excitement, but never dance parties.  My three year old’s love for dance means lots of music and movement!!

·         Daily nap times are delightful.  I think this would make corporate world a much brighter place. 

·         Story time now consists of princesses, heroes, candy and enchanted forests.  Most corporate stories offer the same climax that has something to do with money (usually in Power Point form).

·         Brown nosing actually means having a brown nose in my current setting (kids.are.messy).

·         Given my lack of current event knowledge, water cooler conversations are relatively the same (at least from my end).

·         A vendor stalking me to buy their latest software product is not unlike my kidlets begging for a treat.  Neither party takes no for an answer.

Kisses and hugs were not a form of payment in the corporate setting (thank goodness!), but coming from my littles, they are better than a big fat paycheck any day!

Kindergarten, Say What?!?

My oldest little person is officially a kindergartner.  Wow!  There were no tears, only excitement.  I was too excited for him to cry.  I watched my baby with his oversized backpack take the halls to his new found sanctuary; the kindergarten classroom.  It was magical.  I was one of those kids growing up that absolutely loved the start of a school year.  I loved shopping for school supplies, new school clothes, arranging my trapper keeper (my younger readers can Google this) and getting my back pack stuffed just so.  I loved everything about the start of a school year. ..a fresh start, the excitement of learning something new, the chance to see old friends and the idea of being a step higher on the “maturity ladder.”

I pray that my boy keeps his excitement and LOVES the process of learning.  His teacher seems amazing and lucky for him, he has a pretty RAD gym teacher.  Oh the possibilities!