To be joyful

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.