I wear two rings. The one on my left hand is a symbol of love for my husband. The ring on my right hand is a small silver band with one word on it…hope.
This month marks the five-year anniversary of the reason I bought that little hope ring. My husband and I have been on the journey to starting a family all that time...to read the rest visit (in)courage.
I'm deliberately looking for joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
Kelly from This Restless Heart shared a fabulous post by Monica Sharman with me last week. I loved it and hope you'll take a few moments to read it.
Essentially, Monica shares of searching for joy and struggling to find it. Finally her sweet husband reminds her that we first seek God and then He gives us joy.
In light of this, I spent a few moments asking myself, "What am I really looking for in this joy challenge?"
I realized I'm often like a treasure hunter who sticks her shovel in the soil, scratches at it a bit, and thinks, "That's just ordinary soil. Nothing much here." Then I move on to the next spot.
But if I make myself pause, reflect, dig deep, lift shovel after shovel of my humanness away then eventually I discover the divine where I least expected it.
I start with lunch with a friend...and find God is love.
I begin with an ordinary blue sky...and remember God is creator.
I open my eyes to a new day even in hard times...and know again God is faithful.
I've heard that "happiness" is on the surface and based on circumstances. In contrast, perhaps joy is what we find when we dig deeply enough into those circumstances to see God in them.
And for one who tends to miss Him in the ordinary, that's where I'm digging these days....
GIVEAWAY
Congratulations to Carol! She became a subscriber this week and was chosen by the random number generator as the winner today. Carol is getting one of my very favorite things–this fabulous pitcher from The Life Collection...
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy. I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe anytime during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
Our joy adds to His...
The Lord be exalted who delights in the well-being of His servant. Psalm 35:27
...and simply knowing this adds to mine.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Today just share a Scripture or truth God has spoken to your heart that brings you joy. I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately looking for joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
In the beginning God created...
And we, in His image, have been doing so ever since.
I mentioned going to a brainstorm yesterday in the home of a coworker.
The gorgeous shelf above belongs to Heather Solum and it sits in her living room.
Every bit of the rest of her house is just as lovely.
After the brainstorm she showed us her studio, art she is doing, ways she is adding beauty to the world.
And she lit up from the inside in a way that can only come from creating.
You know that glow, don't you?
The cook who discovers the perfect ingredient has it.
The gardener who notices her first bloom finds it.
The designer who adds just the right color experiences it.
I believe that all of us are creative in some way.
We each have moments when we light up from the inside because we're doing what we were made to do.
I'd like to think that glow is a reflection of our Heavenly Father's face...smiling as His children imitate what He does so well.
And in His joy, I find joy too.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy (if you're a subscriber, remember to go to http://holley.dayspring.com to do so). I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately looking for joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
It seems joy is easier to find on some days than others. I woke up feeling exhausted and wanting nothing more than to pull the covers back over my head. Ever have one of those days?
Then this afternoon I went to a creative off-site at the home of one of my coworkers. The ceramic token above was in my seat when I arrived. It's from Blessings Unlimited and months ago I helped create the set for them.
The words jumped out at me, cutting through the fog that had drifted around me all day.
I realized again how true they are...I am blessed.
I held the tiny token in my hand and I remembered that most of the blessings in life aren't the big ones. Instead they're so small that they're easy to miss. Joy doesn't come blazing in all at once...instead it shows up bit-by-bit.
As I thought about this, I realized I'd had joy in my day--kind e-mails, time with friends, a kiss from my husband as I walked out the door. Yet these joys are so ordinary that I tend to take them for granted. Then I complain about not having joy in my life when I'm surrounded by it every moment.
I grasped the token and squeezed it for a moment, silently whispering a prayer and wishing I hadn't wasted so much of the day with my mood.
And when I finally let go I realized my heart had begun to take hold of joy again.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one little thing that brings you joy. I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from the beginning click here.
Last week I finished a masters degree in counseling. I still remember my first day of class and how it seemed like I would NEVER be done. But lo and behold, I made it.
Yesterday my sweet co-workers had a little party for me to celebrate. And if any of you wondered, free dessert is the way to my heart.
(And, yes, that little grey box in the picture is where I write to all of you much of the time.)
It brought me joy to realize again what deep down I already knew...I had not traveled this path alone. Many who loved me were waiting at the finish line cheering me on when it felt like I just couldn't do it.
So thank you Linn, Ann, Susan, Matt, and Trieste. You're wonderful.
And most of all, thank you to the One Who Loves Me, who stayed with me every step—even the ones I thought I couldn't take.
Finishing with my hand in His and the sounds of encouragement all around me truly brings me joy. It also makes me think of the ultimate Finish Line in life and how I hope it will be much the same. Until then if anyone feels called to bring me dessert...that's just icing on the cake.
Speaking of cake, what goes better with it than coffee? So I'm doing my first giveaway and it's the fabulous Sassy & Sophisticated mug below! Julie Muraski is the winner for leaving a comment on the Day One that was chosen by the random number generator. Congrats, Julie!
The mug says: Live fully. Love deeply. Laugh Loudly. It also includes the Scripture, "I have come that they might have life and have it to the full" (John 10:10).
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy. I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately looking for joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.
It's after 10:30pm and I'm drifting in from an evening with friends. Late night for a weekday, I know. But it was one of those times when the sentences flowed together, the laughter just kept coming, and I thought, "Yes, now this is a little bit of heaven."
Thank you to Amber from the run-a-muck and Seth from the mother letter project for an amazing dinner in your beautiful home. Stephanie from (in)courage and her husband Barry joined us too. The friendship I share with all of you is my source of joy today.
And if you're wondering about the picture, that's the Éclair cake I brought for dessert. It's just an added bit of bliss. Here's the recipe in case you need to whip up a little happy at your house this week...
Éclair Cake
1 16oz package graham crackers
2 3.4oz packages instant pudding mix
3 cups milk
1 8oz container cool whip
1 16oz package frosting
Blend pudding mix, cool whip, and milk in bowl until blended. Put one layer of graham crackers in a 9x13 pan. Pour half of pudding mixture over graham crackers. Add a second layer of crackers. Top with remaining pudding mixture. Finish with a final layer of graham crackers. Pour icing over top (heat in microwave for 20-30 seconds if needed). Refrigerate overnight.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Today just share about one person who brings you joy. (If you're a subscriber remember to go to http://holley.dayspring.com to do so.) I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from the beginning click here.
This morning my husband and I set our for a bike ride. A brilliant blue sky hung above us and the first kiss of fall found its way onto our cheeks as we began to zig-zag down the trail.
Biking hasn't always been easy for me (okay, never). I do enjoy it—especially on flat pavement. But we live in a hilly part of the country and every ride is full of ups and downs (anyone else feel a spiritual analogy coming on?).
My husband is a great biker and my big break through came when he taught me how to use my gears. You see, I had been doing everything in the hardest gear. I was showing off, really. I thought if I could tackle the biggest, baddest hill in that gear then I must be good.
But that's just silly. And I understood why when I learned you can make it easier to pedal just by a little flick of your fingers. Now my gear fits the terrain...I can adapt, shift, make the most of of where I am at the moment.
And when I flip it into just the right gear and it feels a little bit like flying...I feel JOY.
God has been given me some "gear lessons" in the rest of my life the last few months too. As on my mountain bike, I can be a bit intense. I think, "I'll just do it all in the hardest gear. That will prove what a good little Christian I am." Can anyone say "craziness"?
Instead the One Who Loves Me is gently showing me how to shift, adapt, allow seasons of rest with seasons of pushing hard. It has changed everything for me.
And when I flip my heart into just the right gear with Him and it feels a little bit like flying...I feel JOY.
p.s. Something else that brings me joy is a story of redemption—God making beauty of our brokenness. My dear friend and fellow (in)courage writer Sarah Markley is sharing hers this week. Please visit her blog, The Best Days of My Life, and support her as she takes this leap of faith so other women can heal.
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy. (If you're a subscriber remember to go to http://holley.dayspring.com to do so.) I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I have a confession. Joy doesn't come naturally to me. Empathy, yes. Guilt, yes. But joy, not so much. I'm not sure why this is exactly. Biology, theology, who knows.
I like to explain my tendency toward the melancholy a bit like this: When you let go of the steering wheel in your car it naturally drifts one way or the other. It's the same with my emotions. So it's up to me to intentionally grab the wheel and pull it back to center (with God's help, of course).
So I'm throwing down the gauntlet for myself. Over the next forty days I'm going to intentionally look for more of what brings me joy and tell you about it.
This is day one.
And today sitting on my back porch by our firepit with my husband brought me joy. In a little over week we'll celebrate nine years of marriage. Not perfect, of course, but good.
On that same back porch, these flowers grow. Their existence is remarkable because I'm not good at maintaining much. But they, like us, are somehow thriving despite ideal conditions!
I once thought of joy as an emotion...now I see it as a choice.
And I'm choosing it, right here, right now.
"I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
Would you like to join me in the Joy challenge? Just share one thing that brings you joy. I'll have random giveaways for people who comment or subscribe during the next forty days. And you never know when it could be you...
I finally and officially finished grad school this week with a masters degree in counseling. For our final paper we wrote about what we learned through our internship experience. As I wrote mine I realized it all came back to one word...grace.
I can still picture myself that first day of class, clutching books to my chest, staring nervously at other students, wondering what might be ahead. It feels like yesterday. It feels like a lifetime ago. In reality, it has been four and a half years.
In many ways, it seems like I know now even less then I did then. But one thing is for certain—I am not the same person I was when I began. God used this experience to shape and grow me personally, professionally, and spiritually in ways I didn’t expect. Here is a little of what He has taught me.
Lesson One: Receiving Grace Brings Healing
I long believed following the letter of the law was thought to be the way to wholeness. While I had shed much of that by the time I entered the counseling program perhaps a bit remained—at least the fear that if you let people have too much grace they will abuse it.
I began, tentatively at first, to offer my clients bits of grace. Those women, so hungry for what God had to offer, devoured them ravenously. So I offered more. And as they ate their fill, something strange happened. They began to heal, to love God more, to reach out to others, and soon we were done. It shocked and thrilled me.
The clients I witnessed the most dramatic life-changes in were those who got a firm hold on grace by the time our sessions ended. And I, too, have found that this has spilled over into who I am as a person and counselor. I went into practicum believing in grace from a theological standpoint. I finished believing grace to be one of the essential parts of healing for all people, regardless of where they are (or are not) in their faith journeys.
I believe God offered grace not just to save us from our sins but also from ourselves. Our legalism, perfectionism, trying too hard to be good does as much harm as rebellion. If someone had said this to me before I began my internship I would have disagreed. But after working with about 50 women I can tell you it's true.
Grace is frightening because it requires giving up control. It also requires humility and childlike faith. Grace is thought to be easy but it's hard, so very hard. It's much simpler to try to fix ourselves than to place our hearts in God's hands just as they are.
But when we do, our "work" ends and His begins...and we are never the same.
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