The JOY Challenge: Day 40 - The Home Stretch

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

 

We've made it to the final day of the joy challenge!

As I think about what I've learned, this sums it up...

Sharing pleasure with God is just as intimate (perhaps more so) than sharing hard times.

For some reason, it seems modern Christianity thinks that in order to be holy you also need to be serious and/or depressed.

Do you know what I'm talking about?

We feel comfortable talking about the hardships in our lives. But for some reason we blush and squirm when it comes to joy.

In the 1600s a council of churches came together to decide, among other things, the purpose of humanity. How's that for a low-pressure meeting?

This is the conclusion they came to...

Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.

How did we get from that to a place when I've heard so many Christians express (and said myself), "I feel selfish when I do something that makes me happy."

You too?

We've got to reclaim joy.

If our story begins in Eden and ends in heaven then pleasure matters to God.

You've had those moments, haven't you? The ones when you're laughing, doing something you love, experiencing one of those near-perfect experiences in life when suddenly you feel this ache, this longing, for somewhere, Someone greater than yourself?

Even in marriage, pleasure comes in moments of intimacy. And if marriage is the earthly picture of our relationship with him, doesn't it make sense that the same would be true spiritually?

I think joy, and I have tears in my eyes as I write this, JOY is God's way of calling our hearts home...of reminding us we're not made for here but for him.

Until then, he slips joy into our days so we remember.

This journey has reminded me to intentionally look at joy that way again--to let it lead me through this life like a series of signs that point to home and the One who waits for me there.

Our journey may be done...but let's keep walking this way together.

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To celebrate the completion of the joy challenge, I'm giving away a fabulous Danielson sign featuring their new book crop style (photo above). It would be a great Christmas gift! Or you can just keep it. (:

The sign says...

Be strong, and let your heart take courage,

all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24

Seek joy for today, strength for tomorrow, hope always.

To be entered, leave a comment before midnight on Tuesday!

 

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The JOY Challenge: Day 39 - Simply the Best

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

 

My dear mentor in college, Beth, used to lean forward and say with a smile, "The most difficult choices in life are not between good and bad but between good and best."

Her words stuck with me.

Then this morning I read this...

Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. 1 Corinthians 1:17

Our buddy Paul is saying, "Baptizing is good--but it's not God's best for me."

You may be wondering, "Holley, what in the world do your mentor, Paul, and cupcakes have to do with each other?" Just stick with me a little longer and stop looking at the cupcake picture...

Paul was clearing up some confusion because people were saying, "I follow Paul" rather than "I follow Christ" (and somehow the few baptisms he did tied into all that).

So it seems stepping outside what God had for Paul caused a little chaos and a mess he got to help clean up.

Sigh. Been there and done that.

You see, I like to say "yes"...to people, opportunities, new adventures. Anyone else?

And I'm not saying "yes" out of guilt or obligation. I'm saying "yes" because I love a new challenge in much the same way I love a good cupcake.

The only thing is, I sometimes sign up for the baptizing committee when I should be spending time doing something else like, oh, writing.

The other reason is...this one is hard to say...I'm flattered that someone wants me.

There's still a little Junior High girl somewhere inside me that just wants to be asked to dance.

And then once I've been asked to dance, I certainly don't want anyone mad at me for saying no.

It's complicated.

But the past few months God has really been working on my heart--helping me cut out the "baptizing" and get back to what I've truly been sent to do.

I believe that's writing, counseling, connecting from the heart.

And how do I know when I'm in my calling?

I feel JOY.

Yes, there are difficulties. But there is also a satisfation in the struggle because I know it's worth it.

In contrast, when I'm out of that zone I feel weary, discouraged, without joy.

So today I'm asking God again to help me choose the best over the good...perhaps the hardest, but most rewarding, choice of all.

(As for the cupcakes, my friend Ginny Mooney wisely said to me in Rick's bakery one day, "Life is short, eat doughnuts." Notice "doughnuts" is plural. No choice needed. This timeless insight applies to all baked goods.)  

 

What's God's best in your life? In other words, what brings you joy and makes you say, "I was created to do this"? I'd love to know that about you...

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The JOY Challenge: Day 38 - Coffee, anyone?

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

This week Ann Voskamp asks, "What spiritual practice has most deeply affected your relationship with Jesus?"

The answer for me comes in an instant.

I suppose I should picture steeples, pews, something made up of religion or ritual.

But instead I think of this...

Coffee.

Now before you wonder if I've lost my mind (or my faith) let me explain a bit.

It's not really about the coffee.

It's about the person sitting across from me.

And, even more, about the Person who quietly slips in and joins us.

For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. Matthew 18:20

I've been thinking lately that perhaps our western world has things a bit backwards.

We tend to think we find God more when we withdraw from everyone else.

And we do sometimes.

As in a marriage, there are moments when you shut the door and share an intimacy that belongs to no one else.

But most of life, most of the relationship, is in-between those times. And if we limit our intimacy with God to just this, it seems incomplete.

Even Jesus seems to have spent more spiritual time engaging with people than alone with God.

What if connection with God comes through connection with others?

I've realized it does for me, more than any other way.

I'm an introvert...an off-the-charts introvert, in fact.

But still, still, God meets me most often through the heart and hands of another.

When I am in community (whether with one or many) my faith grows.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6

Sometimes this happens through a literal cup of coffee and a real-life friend across the table. Other times it comes in an e-mail, a comment from one of you, a phone call that stretches to family across the miles.

I'm not sure the how matters as much as the what...the coming together in His name.

He joins us.

We join Him.

And suddenly that coffee is a taste of heaven on earth.

In your presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11

 

Do other people ever help you feel closer to God? If so, who and how?  

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The JOY Challenge: Day 37 - Simply Lovely

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

First, thank you to all of you for your post ideas to help with my writer's block! You are brilliant and I'm so looking forward to diving into those soon!

During my little writing break, a wonderful reader and new friend of mine honored me with a Lovely Lady, Lovely Blog award. Thanks so much, Cassandra!

"The LOVELY LADY ~ LOVELY BLOG award is to be given to those whom you have met in this wonderful world called the blogosphere who are beautiful and who have blogs that encourage, inspire, and uplift us in our daily lives."

This is a pass-along sort of award so I get to share it with five more bloggers too.

Here they are...

Reese is a natural encourager. Her sweet, sunny smile says it all...and her heartfelt words back it up.

Maureen is making a difference around the world (and in my life too) with kindness and courage.

Fiona is all about sharing that "We have much to learn from each other." And she has taught me a lot!

Amy is a tenderhearted, prayer warrior. I've been a thankful recipient of those prayers more than once!

Grace and Peace is in love with God and a blessing to His daughters (especially me).

Girls, to accept this award and pass it on, just check out the guidelines on Cassandra's site. 
 

I'm closing comments today so you can go leave kind words for the ladies above on their blogs!

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The JOY Challenge: Day 36 - Along the Way

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

 

Congratulations to Katie for winning the journal giveaway! She'll get to choose any journal she wants from DaySpring.com. And all of you can get 20% off with my friends and family discount (holley20). I love these journals and helped create many of them! Click here to see the whole collection.

We're getting close to the end of the Joy challenge (I know--it's been a lot longer than just forty consecutive days!) and I've learned some things along the way...

Joy is a choice - I don't think there's been one day I've woken up and said, "Woo-hoo! Joy!" I think joy is a bit like exercise. You put your heart in motion and head that direction then God gets the rest of you up to speed.

Joy is everywhere - Once I started looking, I discovered joy was all around me. It still is. I'll admit some days I get bogged down and don't choose to focus on it. But when I do, it's always there.

Joy is a glimpse of heaven - In those moments when joy is incredibly real, I always find myself longing for heaven. I think joy reminds us we were made for more than this, more than here and now.

Joy is a Person - For some reason we tend to think of Jesus as really serious. But he's joy itself. And I've discovered when I truly feel joy, I feel his presence in those moments too.

Your turn! Just fill in the blank. Joy is...

 

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The JOY Challenge: Day 35 - Praying for You

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

 
photo by Dawn at My Home Sweet Home Online

God,

Thank you for the one who is reading these words right now.

I'm so glad that wherever she is, you are there too.

Today I ask that you would bring her JOY--

the kind that comes from deep inside

and stays despite our circumstances.

You know what's on her heart today,

those worries that keep coming back.

Lift the burdens from her shoulders,

carry them for her...and please carry her too.

I also pray that you would bring her HOPE--

the kind that is so much bigger than blue skies,

the sort of hope that sees us through the storms

and walks us into the light of a better, brighter day.

If her belief is sagging or her spirit weary

give her strength to press on to all you have for her.

And, most of all, I pray for LOVE in her her life--

the kind that is unconditional, real, healing

and gives us the courage to become

all you made us to be because we know

we're deeply loved just as we are now.

Please let her feel your Presence and these prayers

with her right now, in this moment.

Thank you for being with her always as you promised.

Amen.

 

What's one way we can specifically pray for you today? Let us know by leaving a comment here and on the prayer page of (in)courage... 

The JOY Challenge: Day 34 - The Rest of the Story

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

   

It's late. The sun has long since slipped behind the autumn trees. Husband is curled under a blanket on the couch, sleeping peacefully while the news tells us why we should be afraid.

 

I'm sitting at the kitchen table. My hands rest on the white, too-wrinkled tablecloth. The computer screen buzzes blue and invites me to touch the silver keys.

 

But this time I decline and reach for my journal instead. I open the patterned cover and run my fingers along the lined pages. I pick up the pen and write secrets.

 

These are not the sort of secrets that would land me on a talk show. No, these are secrets of the heart.

 

For here, on these silent pages no one reads, I write down words of encouragement given to me, accomplishments, reasons for celebration.

 

Then God and I rejoice over them together. It's divine intimacy. It brings me back to joy.

 

You see, I tend to forget those things. Or I hide them. I'm embarassed by compliments, overwhelmed by spotlights.

 

But alone, with Him, they become treasures I can offer back up.

 

And when I'm done, perspective changed, my heart rests...

 

On difficult days I come back to this book and read again, remembering His faithfulness, knowing I'm loved.

 

Lord, may our hearts rejoice and rest in you. Amen.

 

 

To encourage you in your journaling (or someone you love)...

 

Leave a comment before midnight on Friday and you'll be entered to win any journal you choose from the collection on DaySpring.com.

 

The JOY Challenge: Day 33 - Where I've been...

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

Family comes and I quietly slip away from the computer for a few days. We wander together, laughing, enjoying autumn and each other.

Day One we visit the War Eagle craft fair. Nestled next to a working mill, people bring the work of their hands...

 

Day Two we find more fairs and I'm captivated by this pumpkin (which remained there) and the glorious mums above (which I'm looking at again outside my window)...

Day Three we hike high up into the woods and fall wraps her arms around us.

"Hush, hush," she says to my hurried heart. "Be still and remember the One who made me...and you."

We start at these steps...

Walk through the quiet woods...

And climb all the way to the top of the mountain...

 

Then we turn, head home, full of beauty, out of breath but breathing new life.

So I sit here once more, renewed, missing my family and happy to be with you--my heart a jumble of joy and longing.

Where does your family live (near or far)? What do you like to do when you're together?

The JOY Challenge: Day 32 - Speed Limits for Our Souls

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

Earlier today I read this post by beautiful Ann Voskamp and in the last line she asked if we might like to write about how we slow down.

I nodded at the time, thinking this was a good idea.

Ten hours, two meals, a trip to the store, 30 minutes on the exercise bike, a round of mopping, three assignments, 50 or so e-mails, an hour-long phone call, three loads of laundry, a date with my husband, and a batch of homemade pumpkin muffins later I am finally here to write.

I laugh at myself as I read that list because compared to others, today was a quiet one.  

My name is Holley and I've got a problem with "busy."

You too? Pull up a chair...

A glance at my book shelf reveals how hard it is for me to slow down. I took a quick look at it and found five books on this topic.

One that has deeply impacted me is Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald.

I read it two summers ago on my back porch in the shade of an umbrella. I will never forget the paragraph below.

He had just been describing sinkholes in Florida that suddenly appear in places that seemed to be sturdy on the surface...

 

"If we think about it for very long, we may discover the existence of an inner space--our private world--about which we were formerly ignorant. I hope it will become apparent that, if neglected, this private world will not sustain the weight of events and stresses that press upon us."

I was in the middle of grad school that summer, burned-out, weary, and wondering how much longer I could keep going. That book caught my attention and reminded me that although I might think I could sustain this pace forever, it would eventually undo me.

More recently I read the book, Halfway to Each Other: How a Year in Italy Brought Us Home by Susan Pohlman.

Finding themselves on the brink of divorce and drained dry by "the good life" Unlike many other books where suffering is the way back to God, the Pohlmans find Him again in slowing down and enjoying each other.

In one place Susan writes...

"We found ourselves with large chunks of time with nothing attached to them. At first, it felt odd. Some days I would even feel guilty, like I wasn't accomplishing anything. That I was wasting the day. But that phase passed quickly when I realized that I was actually accomplishing all sorts of important things. They just weren't tangible."

The other books on my shelf contain similar sentiments. In case you're wondering, they are Soul Space: Where God Breaks In by Jerome Daley, Running on Empty by Fil Anderson, and Resting Place: A Personal Guide to Spiritual Retreats by Jane Rubietta). I've heard Ann Kroeker's new book, Not So Fast: Slow Down Solutions for Busy Families is also excellent.

As I think about this, I realize I'm much Like a child who hasn't learned to use the brakes on her bike all that well. I need someone else to come alongside me and help me ease my pace.

And yet when we do slow down, joy has a chance to catch up with us.

I'm thankful God has put others in my path who do know how to go slower--like Ann Voskamp, Gordon MacDonald, Susan Pohlman--as well as friends and family who love me enough to warn me when I'm approaching the speed limit of my soul.

And, of course, the ultimate voice is the One whispering within us, "Be still and know I am God."

He loves us in all of our hurry and yet never stops wooing our hearts back to where we belong.

And He knows even if we're not completely there yet we're making progress...slowly.

Do any of you find it hard to slow down at times or is it just me?

The JOY Challenge: Day 31 - The Closet

I'm deliberately finding joy for forty days. To start from day one click here.

I dust, straighten, vacuum like a mad woman. We have guests coming this week and I've got a house to clean.

I stop, review my work, think it might actually be coming together...and then I think about it—the closet.  

Yep, that's it over there on the right. I can't believe I'm posting a picture of it on the web because, y'all, in real life nobody opens that door.

And if they do, they might not ever come back out. I'm just saying.

I hope you have one of these in your house. If you don't you must promise now not to judge—yes, you with the cute baskets and matching labels.

I worked my little tail off cleaning the house today and yet it still didn't feel like enough.

It might appear that way on the surface but in my heart of hearts I knew what was still behind closed doors.

My husband came home to me anxiously scrubbing while I muttered incoherent sentences comparing myself to more domestically-inclined women.

He pulled me close, kissed the top of my head, and said, "Don't worry."

And all at once it wasn't just closets we were talking about.

It was my messy, crazy, shut-the-door life.

Because I clean my heart a lot like I clean my house. I scrub and scrub until the outside is okay. After all, someone is sure to be looking soon. 

But deep inside I know there are still those closets...the thoughts I should stop thinking, the quirks I wish I didn't have, the junk I need to haul to the curb for good.

And even when I'm doing okay my heart can't rest because it's never good enough.

Then my Heavenly Father pulls my heart close, gets inside my head, and whispers, "Don't worry."

Love covers all wrongs. Proverbs 10:12 NIV

It's not that the closets in our lives don't matter. It's just that other things matter more—like relationships, growth, becoming.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 NIV

In other words, there will always be more closets to clean—in our houses and our hearts.

And this is where the joy comes...

Grace is enough.

The One who sees behind all those doors truly, deeply loves us anyway.

(hopefully our house guests will too!)

So, girls, confession time...anyone else got a closet like mine?