I love seeing the buds coming on the trees this time of year, then the trees bursting forth with leaves seemingly overnight.  As much as I love winter and appreciate snow , I am filled with joy as spring blooms all around us.  I’m reminded of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection making all things new. 

A friend emailed me today with a simple, yet profound, question.  They merely asked , “why do I deserve the life that I have? I am a sinner.”  My answer was just as simple…God loves you and wants to transform you, to make you all He meant you to be from the start.  Making all things new is why Jesus came to do all that He did, so that our Father’s love could be fulfilled. What incredible joy there is in knowing this and watching nature remind us of the story all over again every spring. 

Here we are at the beginning of Holy Week, but there have been tragedies in the last several days that the enemy of our souls wants to use to steal any joy we might have. We cannot give in to the discouragement and hopelessness that could take us over if we let it, no matter what terrible times we may be facing, personally or as a part of our world. 

Hopefully, you know that when I mention the enemy of our souls I am talking about the Evil One, the Deceiver, the Tempter….Satan.  I actually don’t even like to capitalize his name, but I felt I needed to be clear that I’m not speaking of any human person that we might believe is our enemy. Ultimately , the Enemy of our souls is the one behind any terrible action of any human.  The Enemy of our souls, the Thief, “has come to steal, kill and destroy.”  Whereas Jesus has come to give life to the fullest, abundant life. (John 10:10)

Therefore, even though there has been great sadness in our world, there is still joy, hope, and peace to be found. Look around you. See all the beauty in the creation, in people; look for the good, true, and right in all people and created things, in every situation. 

You can find JOY this Holy Week, even in the midst of sorrow. 

I substitute taught today. The teacher had this posted on her board: 

It made me ponder how I still desire to impart this into my young adult children’s lives. They each bring me so much joy, and my heart is filled with desires for each of them. This quote from the classroom today is only a part of what I long for them to know.  

I have been utterly aware of living life in all of its fullness, high highs and low lows , this week. I have experienced being fully present in the now several times this week and there is a sweet joy in this that I can only contribute to Christ in me , the hope of glory. 

I’ve spent much of the last few days in my laundry room, clearing it out, cleaning, patching holes and sanding , wiping down the walls and vacuuming. I ventured behind my washer and dryer today, as far as I could reach, to suck up what seemed like a ton of dust and cobwebs, plus a few socks. Oh , I also recovered about 15 hangers!  
We’ve always hung up certain clothes to dry on the rack above the dryer. Invariably, there were times the hangers would get tangled and I would lose one behind the dryer. My word! I had no idea I had lost so many!!

This brought to my mind the things in life that we “let slide” because they seem trivial at the time. Yet, over weeks, months , maybe years, all the little things add up and can turn into some big deals in our lives. 

I am guilty of this at times, but I’ve tried to learn to “be faithful in the little things” (Luke 16:10). An example would be recycling. There are times I just want to take the easy way out and throw stuff away in the kitchen trash, no rinsing it out and no taking it out to the recycling bins in the garage. But my conscience gets me most every time, and I remember that when I start neglecting the little things ,  my behavior can turn into a habit and then eventually become a part of my character, a lifestyle. 
Father, help me be more faithful in all the little things….

Every spring I post pictures of the first blooms to open up in my flower beds. I do this because my heart thrills to see these flowers. When I took this picture today, my joy struck me as gratitude and praise to God. It was then that I became aware of God’s joy when He sees us enjoying something He has made. 

It’s like when a parent sees their child playing with a favorite toy or enjoying their time with a friend or grinning from ear to ear as they ride a roller coaster. We parents smile and feel joy when our kids have those experiences and we sense that we are appreciated, that we did something well and made our kids happy in some way. This is a small comparison, but hopefully it can help paint a better picture of what I was trying to say

God delights in our joy , in our enjoyment of the life He has given us and all that encompasses. As I have quoted before, “the Glory of God is a human fully alive”(St. Iraneaus)

I spent most of the last 36 hours doing activities related to painting as I was working on house projects in my preparations to move. But this afternoon, I took a break to go to a ladies gathering at church …. to paint a pallet 😂.  Believe it or not, the time away from the house, being with my friends, painting ( and eating a cupcake 😬) actually did help me to de-stress. Also, I found myself smiling with an inner joy as I painted my Scripture verse; God was reminding me of exactly what I needed ….

As I’ve been working on my house in preparing to move , I’ve also been getting ready for my daughter to graduate from high school, my baby.  Yet, three weeks before her graduation , my oldest will graduate with his Master of Education degree.  

So , as I’ve been looking through box after box of memories in our basement , I’ve come across so many reminders of my son’s journey for the last 24 years ( come this July ). I wept with joy last weekend as I searched through many of his pictures and schoolwork. 

It’s taken me all week to be ready to post this, but here are some of the treasured reminders of My son’s life:

It was a tough day. Anxiety got the better of me, but my bestie, Sheila, did come to my rescue this evening. We talked and shared while packing boxes of books. Made some progress…my bookshelves are empty. 

Did you also have a rough day (or one this week)?  The verse in my flip calendar comforted me every time I read it today (which was quite a few times). Maybe it will help you as well…

Nehemiah 8:10-The Joy of the Lord is your strength. You must not be dejected and sad!

God really does see us through anything and provide whatever we need to walk through any difficulty. Sometimes that comes in the form of a friend who steps into our mess to help us clean, sort, organize and pack. Other times it comes in the form of a dove cooing on the electric wire outside my house or when just the right song comes on the radio, and then there are times when just the right person stops to listen and has the right words to say. 

It’s taken me many years to know that I can for sure trust God in all things. Frankly, I do still have some anxieties and worries at times, but I can truly testify that those worries are always proven incorrect. God continually shows me that He will take care of me. This gives me joy even in the tough stuff of life.