The bible tells us to be JOYFUL and ENJOY our life and what we have.  Some of you might be saying, “yeah right Amy, you don’t know at all what is going on in my life. You don’t know that I ONLY have gotten 3 hours of sleep for the last week, or you don’t even know what type of mess I woke up to today.”

And you are right….I don’t know what types of things have come your way.  But I do know that we ALL go through ups and downs in life.

This is what I woke up to in my kitchen this morning……..

Seems no one knows how to wash dishes after having snacks at night, except me.  No one seems to know where the trash can is except me.  Oh and whoever’s turn it was to put dishes away it seems has slipped their mind………(sigh)

I know that being joyful can be a hard task to come by at times.

I was reading in Psalm 27 today……

In summary it was about David.  David had suffered many hardships in his life.  The amount of things he went through are way more than I will  ever experience in my lifetime.  He was in fear for much of his life that he was going to be killed.  Do I sometimes live in “fear” to feel like I won’t measure up as a wife and mother?  Do I have “fear” that my children are going to be screwed up by my parenting methods?  What did David rely on to get him through his fear?

Only by the power of God

David realized when he put his trust in the Lord that he would “see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living”. This is what kept him going – even when he was hunted like a wild animal.

We need to be enjoying our lives and having JOY instead of walking around in fear or anger or sadness.

What does God say about having JOY in our lives:

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

A man has joy by the answer of his mouth, And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!

Proverbs 15:23

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

 Proverbs 17:22

We have ALL heard the saying….

When Momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!!

How true this is for us as mothers, because we set the tone in our home.  If I am in a discouraged, negative mood chances are my children are going to portray a negative spirit as well.  If I am snippy to my husband, he will probably be snippy right back to me.

Our jobs as wives and mothers is to be JOYFUL.  Maybe your husband is neglectful to you and you feel  bitter towards him and all you want from him is to be a better man. Be joyful with your husband—- you make him happy and let God make him good.

Even going through the mundane tasks of life can make it hard to be joyful.  It seems we can get ourselves into a rut if we are not careful. If we tend to be negative and not watch our words, before you know it we can crush our child’s spirit and lay insults to the man we were created to be partners with.

We create the messes that we get ourselves into.

If you have a tendency to “crush” your child or husbands’ spirit ask the Lord how to show you JOY in your life.

You sometimes hear about people FINDING joy, but it is a CHOICE to be joyful.

We can ALL find something to be JOYFUL about.  There is ALWAYS something even little to be THANKFUL for.

There is no pit that is so deep that God’s love isn’t in it.

We choose EVERYDAY who we will serve.  If we believe Him than we have a cause to be JOYFUL.

The JOY of the LORD is my STRENGTH

Nehemiah 8:10

Recognize if you have been spending time with the Lord if you do not have strength to be joyful.

If you are the most joyful person in your home it will have an impact on your child and in your home. Don’t believe me, take God’s word and try it!! It is catchy.

Has it been one of those days? Maybe weeks?? Maybe months? Possibly your ENTIRE life?? Do you feel like you could just give up sometimes? I know going through the pressures that life can bring can sometimes wreak havoc on your soul. That is why it is SOOOOOO important that we get in touch with the Lord each day.
It isn’t enough to just go to church every Sunday and take that ALONE to feed and nourish your soul. Can you go by eating on Sunday and then letting that hold you through till the next Sunday rolls around? Just as your body needs literal food and water to replenish lost nutrients so does your soul need a continuous stream of life from God.
I have been personally guilty of this in my own life. I just thought I was too busy to take the time to get into God’s word. Yes, I was busy, I had many little ones to constantly take care of, schooling of the older ones, and a household to run. Oh wait, I also had a husband that needed his wife. Seems that I could never take the time to get ALL that I wanted done in a day’s time. I frustrated myself over and over again. Took my “crying” days and days of feeling like I didn’t want to do anything but just snuggle up on the couch and watch movies—to drown out my weariness.
But those days are gone. I don’t feel the need to be sad. I don’t feel the need to think my life is TOO hard. I changed the way I did things by instilling NEW HABITS into my life.
I now make it a habit of waking up each morning and taking my time in the Word. I found a great broadcasting show that comes on each and everyday at the same time. I KNOW that if I do not wake up I will miss my time in the word. I have even stepped it up a little more and decided to go to bed earlier—my old blog time, and get up before my bible time to do my blog. I know that if I DON’T wake up before my bible study show, then I WILL miss out on my blogging time. My blogging time is something I enjoy very much. I look forward to encouraging and sharing what it is God has in our lives to encourage others.
But it all had to start by changing a habit in my life. Yes, it was hard waking up at 5 each morning. But was it impossible? No it just took the habit of doing it over and over again. If I do sleep in, I miss the opportunity to do my writing and that usually encourages me even more to get up the next day.
We are all motivated by our successes in life. What drives you? What is it that you enjoy doing? Finding what you do enjoy and make time to do it is important.

There is always a way, we just need to adjust our old habits and make some new ones.

What we need is a RESTORATION of our soul. We need to be built back up from the inside out. It doesn’t help to start working backwards. We need to get into the Word and let God work on us from the inside so that the outside of us can get fixed. If we are getting in the Word each day, Our bodies are eventually NOT going to feel like they need to take days or weeks off from “reality” because life is too hard to cope with.
I love Psalm 23 and used to have it on our bathroom walls which I could read each day. I used to think it dealt with death because they use it at every funeral I have ever attended. But I got a new vision for what it means.
Living in the mountains, I enjoy being out in the morning when the sun is just starting to peak up over the mountain tops. It is a beautiful sight to behold. It starts out all dark and then as the light starts to come up over the peak, the LIGHT starts to fill in on the darkness. You get to see the true beauty of the mountain tops and all its glory.
Think of these verses as you are a sheep in life. Having your shepherd lead you along this rocky path of life.  You are tired and hungry walking among all the rocks and crevices which are the bumps of life trying to reach the top of the mountaintop. He is constantly in charge so you have no fear of wolves coming to attack you.  You just carry on letting Him lead.    Suddenly you come up over the side of the mountain and you look out over the horizon and see the sun shining among all the grass.  You made it, you are NOW able to lie down and rest on all this wonderful grass.  You eat from this bountiful feast and drink from the cool water.

The struggles of our daily life can be hard, know that you can take comfort in your shepherd who is leading you.

Psalm 23

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me  in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.