Joy
Have you ever had a word stick out to you during a moment or season of life? A word that continues to jump out to you out of nowhere and you really resonate with it? That word for us this Christmas season has been joy. The Oxford English Dictionary defines joy as “a vivid emotion of pleasure arising from a sense of well-being or satisfaction; the feeling or state of being highly pleased or delighted.”
Life recently has been changing for our family, and changing in a positive way. Change can cause a lot of stress, anxiety and regret in one’s life, and in hindsight, change can bring happiness, calamity and joy. This past year has brought a lot of what could have been detrimental change to our family spiritually, emotionally and financially. Walking away from things in our lives that we once felt was where we were supposed to be and that supports our family is a very challenging decision to make. These decisions ultimately were decided on our moral compass and our faith in the Lord.
During this time, our family did not immediately feel the happiness, calamity and joy that this transition would bring during the change. Instead, we felt the latter. To say it was easy during that time would be a lie. At one time, we wondered if our happiness and joy would come back. Living through unhappiness on a daily basis is extremely tiring and takes everything out of you to even get through one day at a time. We may have had peace in making changes, our joy in life was not there. One thing stayed true through it all though – our reliance on God and each other.
One thing we learned during this time was that joy did not immediately come to us, instead, we had to create the joy we wanted in our lives. It was imperative to surround ourselves with positive people who brought joy to our lives and their own lives as well. Joy radiates through others and is contagious. We just have to be open to receiving the joy that is being shared and be real with ourselves, others and the Lord about our current situation. We also learned that having joy was a state of satisfaction and a sense of well-being, belonging and long-term happiness. We have switched our mindsets these past few months and it has helped us tremendously to see what brings us the most joy. Honestly, they all tend to be simple things in life that we are inclined to take for granted such as time, working together on tasks, being with family, eating meals together at the dinner table and putting our phones down! When we find that joy, what we accomplish together is far greater than what we ever thought imaginable.
Having joy during seasons of loss, change, and uncertainty can be deemed challenging. As joy is the third week of advent, we felt it was the perfect time to talk about this three-letter word that holds so much power. When the joy advent candle is lit this Sunday at church, it is a great reminder that joy comes through Jesus’ arrival and through the salvation he has gifted us. Psalm 94:19 states, “when anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy” With our faith, we can always find joy in knowing who Jesus is!
Creating your own personal joy looks different for everyone, but we all have to dive into our internal well-being to determine how we could bring joy to ourselves. What do we want joy to look like in our life? What are our goals to reach joy? Are we truly devoting our efforts, time and energy to attaining this goal?
This holiday season and into the new year, work to find true joy in your life. Not the artificial kind, but a lasting joy and happiness that radiates out into the world and is contagious to others!
XOXO
Mark and Megan