The Secret to Joy

Winter is here.  It went from a balmy fall day that felt like summer to freezing temperatures overnight.  This always reminds us of the cold house we have and that there is still so much work to do to get it less cabin-like and more house-like.

Sometimes we separate the little boys at bedtime and will start one of them in my bed and then transfer them when they are asleep to keep them from talking.  Last night I moved my 6 year old in the dark from my bed to his bed and then I jumped under the covers because I was so cold.  I didn't move again until morning.  When I did wake up, I felt something on my back which seemed like cookie crumbs.  I don't eat in bed, so I scrambled out of bed wondering what in the world!?  I turned on the light only to discover I'd slept with a whole bunch of chocolate my son had hidden in my bed when he went to sleep.  I had been so tired I hadn't even noticed it melting into my back all night! How disgusting!  My morning began with a quick load of laundry.....I'll be sure to inspect him before I put him to bed from now on.....do other people have to frisk their kids????

We are also now down to one car again.  No big deal except there are a lot of different people going a lot of different directions.  It means I'm doing a lot of driving as now RM is out of the house 3 days a week, so if I need the car, I have to drive him.  Truth is, I don't actually mind.  It's a mini-date as we drive a half hour together each morning, kid-free (as I leave them all behind!).  We talk, dream, vision, plan.....I enjoy that so much.  Then, on the way home, I pray, listen to a sermon, catch up on adult news and come home to kids running around the house, sometimes doing what they're supposed to, oftentimes not.....

We've been looking for another miracle car and went yesterday to look at one, but the seller was clearly trying to sell a car that had been in an accident.  My husband took a quick ride around the block and realized he'd have to walk away from what seemed like such a good deal.  Was it a waste of a trip?  Not really.  RM said it was good for the boys to see (he took the older ones with him) that we should be willing to walk away sometimes in order to get the best deal.  A good lesson against impulse shopping, I guess!

We had a visiting missionary at church on Sunday from Papua, Indonesia.  He spoke about the contradiction we all seem to live - we all experience suffering and yet there is joy to be found in that. It doesn't make sense and yet it is true.  Even with just having the one vehicle, I can see joy in the frustration by allowing me one-on-one time with my husband, interruption-free!  It's literally a drive in the country every morning together.

As for the cold house, I just know you can't complain when there are so many around the world who don't have a home, so I can experience joy just by being grateful for a roof and walls.

Chocolate on my white bed sheets?  I have a healthy kid with a great sense of mischievousness.  Then I have to smile instead of scream!

What about real suffering?  Like my friend who is in this terrible situation where life is just not going how she hoped.  We talked last night and she was able to tell me all the amazing things that have come out of her dark time.  I was amazed.  I shared with her the verses that the pastor had given and she was able to nod in agreement, "Yes, that is my experience," she agreed.

2 Cor.6: 4-10:

"....but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:  by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger, ....as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything."

As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.  What a great phrase.  As having nothing, yet possessing everything.  Wow.

Then 2 Cor. 8:2, "...for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part."  For the Corinthian church, though they suffered, they were still able to be full of joy and even extremely generous.  Amazing!  The missionary shared stories of great joy, but also stories of great affliction, yet as long as he kept his eyes on God and what God was doing in the big picture, he was able to maintain his joy.    Hebrews 12:2 says, "looking to Jesus" we can endure whatever is our burden.  Keeping our eyes always forward.  Even though we will not and cannot understand what the purpose is at the time, that is the only way to keep the joy.  That's the secret.