Unhindered Joy...

"Joy is untouched by circumstance." -- Unknown

God has given us a spirit of joy.  It fills our hearts and souls.  It fills our lives.  There is no denying that we are called to live joy-filled lives.

I have always been a joyful, "cup half-full" kind of girl.  But when the realness and struggles of life start to creep in, I have felt that joy being stripped away.  More often than not, I have allowed hurt and bitterness to overtake the joy that I had. Instead of joy overflowing out of my life, bitterness and hurt overflowed. And as a result, it effected every other part of my life.  My relationships, my self-confidence, my faith.  And really the list wouldn't stop there. 

How often do we let other feelings like bitterness, or anger, or fear jump into our lives, pushing out the joy residing in our hearts? 

God has been showing me that this happens only when we allow it to. Ouch.

We all, at some point or another, have felt feelings of hurt, fear, anxiousness, etc.--but if we choose joy, those feelings quickly diminish.  When we focus on where our joy comes from, a God who created us and loves us despite our filthiness, then it is much easier to embrace joy.  I have seen it happen in my own life. 

All that being said, I thought I would share some of the things that bring me joy in life...the big and the small...

*Christ's sacrifice

*God's unwavering love for me

*The faith of children

*An amazing sunset

*Friendships that you know are God-ordained

*A nice, cold Diet Coke (hey, I said big things and small things)

*Snuggling with my puppy

*Pouring my heart out to God and knowing that He cares, even when it feels no one else does

*Sweet, innocent babies :)

*Hanging out with my nephew and niece

*Seeing a prayer answered

*Seeing the people I love happy

I could go on and on because, despite those things in my life that seem "bad,"  the things that bring me joy far outnumber them.

So, for today, I am choosing to have unhindered, unshaken joy. 

Be blessed!
Jenn