Yesterday came and went, and I just realized I didn’t post anything here. It’s not because I didn’t have joy yesterday, for sure 😊. I simply passed out on the couch earlier than usual, which I needed. I’ll write more later today, but here’s a hint at some of my joy yesterday….

I think I might have the flu, which is ironic because when I walked into Rite Aid earlier, they were offering flu shots as a special today.  I said, “no thanks, we don’t do flu shots.” 😂 Maybe this isn’t the flu though; I’m just feeling a sore throats coming on again along with throbbing ears and upset stomach. 

So, you may be asking yourself how I’m going to write about joy tonight. There are times that we have to choose joy instead of dwelling on whatever might be dragging us down. This is one of those times. 

I choose to think on “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-anything that is excellent or praiseworthy”(Phil 4:8).  God blessed me with some sweet moments of fellowship today as I ate lunch in the university cafeteria where I teach. Then, I had dinner with my bestie so I didn’t have to spend the evening alone. Relationships fill me with joy. 

Some days the joy isn’t as obvious to me. Do you have days like that?  Do you have times when you’ve lost your motivation but have to keep going because life demands it of you?

Today was that type of challenging day for me. I pray extra on days like this, and I turn to friends for help. 

If you find yourself with days like this, it would actually bring me joy to be able to help you find your motivation and move forward again. My greatest joy today came to me when I turned to some friends for help, and one of them immediately responded that they were happy to be on “team Tara”. What deep joy it brings my heart to know I have people in my life who are always there for me. 

Today’s joy came in the form of being able to rest and be at peace, with nothing weighing on my brain or heart. So often, I pressure myself to accomplish and stay on top of all life’s demands. I wrestle with guilt, even on days when I know I simply need to rest a while. 

However, I never resist resting on the Sabbath. God made the Sabbath rest for us , because He knew we needed it. I felt the joy of God’s provision today through resting, and it was good. 

Thank you Abba Father for your goodness to me. 

Some days are more difficult than others. Of course , you know that; every human knows this is true. Today was full of highs but was also trying. However, the joy outweighed the frustrations and the sorrows. 

Two great joys impacted me today. One was running into friends in the community that we hadn’t seen in a while, being embraced and captured into conversations. Deep relationships typically bring me deep joy. I’m talking about the kind that exist far beneath the surface of life; the kind of friendships that never require talking about the surface stuff, but instead, the conversation immediately goes to the heart. These kinds of relationships fuel me in so many ways. 

My second great joy today came from observing two of my “kids”(who are actually young adults) taking the initiative to look after their little cousins.  I smiled and my heart was very glad as I watched them play together, help them with ordering at the restaurant, get them to take their showers, and more.  How good it is for a parent to see their child take on some of the responsibilities of being an adult and of leading the younger members of our extended family. 

Yes, today had some rough spots and I’m pretty exhausted tonight, but overall , the balance of the scale measuring today has tipped to joy. 

The “Littles” came for the weekend (aka 3 of my great nieces). They are full of energy and life and questions. Their personalities burst forth in uniqueness. They are inquisitive and loving, and they are a joy for me, even though being around children for extended periods of time stretches me to my limits of patience and creativity. I’m thankful for these precious girls and happy they came to visit. 

A message from an old friend; getting the Christmas decorations put away; receiving a little bracelet I’d ordered for myself to remind myself to breathe; my sons getting bills paid, classes in order, and settled into their routines….all this brought me joy today. Yet, the greatest joy I had today was teaching. 

It was the first day of my courses today, since weather cancelled them Tuesday. It was so good to be back in the classroom, to meet new students, and to feel comfortable with the material, excited to share it with my class. I feel more alive when I’m teaching, more like I’m fulfilling my purpose and calling. 

God has been gracious to give me opportunities to teach these last fifteen years. I’m praying that He will continue to make a way for me to be able to teach as a profession, in one form or another. 

God used Psalm 73 to bring me joy today. He comforted and reassured my heart.  It was a tender moment in the middle of my day when I happened to be in my bedroom and saw my Bible. I remembered I hadn’t read it yet today, and since I had a few minutes before my next appointment, I flopped on the bed and opened it to my bookmark. I’ve been reading the Psalms since summer. It was all very happenstance and unplanned. I thought I would read and go on with my day.  I didn’t have any expectations….but God spoke to me in the very core of my unsettled, somewhat torn and tumultuous heart, at the place of some of my greatest struggles with identity, insecurity, jealousy and bitterness. He gently spoke His love, hope and encouragement to me. 

My day went on in all of its normalcy, but the joy of being reminded of God’s care for me remained in the middle of it all. 

My joy had come to me today before I ever got out of bed. It was in the form of a text saying my daughter’s school was delayed two hours, followed by another saying my classes I was to teach would be cancelled, and finally one saying my daughter’s school was closed. ❄️🌨💨😊 I needed some extra sleep and an extra day to do some chores (like still putting away my Christmas decorations 😩). I still have half of them to put away, but I made a dent in it, and I made homemade soup 🍜; I put my clean laundry away and got the trash out to the curb. 

Sometimes , it’s the simplest things, like the gift of more time to do chores and getting a little more rest, that can bring me joy.  

I subbed today as an office secretary at our high school. My daughter’s friends talked with me when they came into the office. One gave me a hug 🤗; we’ve been friends with her and her family since she and my daughter were in 2nd grade. A couple of mom’s of my kids’ friends had business in the office and spoke with me. I helped one on the phone. 

Then, there were teachers, coaches, couselors, and staff who had impacted the lives of my three children. We’ve been connected with this high school for ten years now, since my oldest son entered ninth grade. Many connections have been made. 

Reminders of all these connections brought me joy today. I felt joy in spite of getting up at 5:30, which I despise. Joy was in my heart regardless of the negative experiences my kids had at times in that school. It was the joy of knowing and being known, of belonging and feeling a part of a community. 

Yes, it was a bittersweet joy as well, because we’ll be moving from here sometime this year. Our daughter will graduate and we will move to where my husband now works , 3 hours away. Nonetheless, there was joy in my life today in the midst of all these circumstances….in spite of them…because of them 

….#gojackets!!