We are filled with Joy

I just reviewed all my posts from 2013.  And I am struck by two things:  #1-I really am a good writer.  I totally inspire myself. (I feel a little like Castle, "I really am ruggedly handsome"), #2-this was sort of a depressing year.  And what is more depressing is that clearly last January I was feeling relieved to be at the end of 2012 and was looking forward to 2013 being a better year.  And yet this year...So much I haven't even written.

The good news is that a lot of the hard things from 2013 have had some sort of resolve at the end of the year.  Good or bad they are all on a path and off my plate.  Some problems will be ongoing but, we have finally learned this fall how to interact with the stresses of our life without letting it affect our ability to live life.  And I can focus on areas of my life I can control.  Like my need for a part time job.

I love, love real estate but need at least a little regular income.  I have had some good interviews but so far no offers.  Another interview for a job just a mile from home on Monday.  Would love your prayers.

Whether 2014 ends up to be a great year or a continuation of the stress of the past 2 years, it never hurts to start off with a little optimism.  And I really do think this will be a good year.  Great? I don't know. Good? Definitely within my grasp.

As I was reviewing some recent posts I noticed that I have already written a little about my word of 2014.  This year I didn't have to sit down and contemplate what it should be.  God had been presenting this to me for the last couple months and it seemed silly to even pretend I was going to focus on anything else.

Ps 126:2-3
Our mouths are filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.  And it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."  The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY."

My word of the year is JOY.  Joy is not something we have or don't have, it is something we choose.  Joy is not determined by circumstances.  My sister said, "joy is void of circumstance".

For Christmas this year I printed up this and framed it for family and friends:

This picture was taken in Kenya when we were visiting Kibera which is one of the largest slums in the world.  There, as we walked by garbage, rivers of sewage, dirty children and desperate people, was a blue window contrasted against a cracking clay building.  I was struck by the beauty of it in the middle of such poverty.

Joy is like that.  Whether this is a great year or turns out to be another year of struggle we can look around and see beauty, see God working and choose to experience the joy.

I have found about a dozen verses on joy and we are going to try to memorize one a month as a family.  So far so good on the first one.

Ps 126:2-3Our mouths are filled with laughter and our tongues with songs of joy.  And it was said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."  The Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with JOY."