Joy is prayer
Joy is strength
Joy is love
Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls
Mother Teresa
There is that moment, right before the new life emerges from the dark recesses of the womb,where it feels as if a mother is about to be torn into two pieces and the line between life and death may be blurred for that instant. And I wonder if the baby experiences the same moment; the moment of life meeting death and the hard press of this earth on wet lungs, forcing a breath. And I tell myself to inhale: one-one-thousand, two-two-thousand...Exhale: one-one-thousand, two-two-thousand, three-three-thousand, four-four-thousand.
A woman, when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour is come; but when she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
†John 16:21
I take each child on a lunch date, a real sit down, in a restaurant, just the two of us, lunch date. I tell the tender hearted one, "I think I know what my word for next year is supposed to be." And I haven't prayed about it, it just keeps finding me. I tell her how I have a passing thought, "I wonder what next year's word will be" and it pops right in, not even waiting for the whole formal invitation...almost like it can't wait?
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
†Romans 15:13
But I immediately think of childbirth. I think of the pain of laboring; my eyes pleading with Chris to make it better, to relieve the pressure. And I have turned to him many times in this year of trust with pleading eyes...Is that what this JOY will be? More pain, more stretching, more trust? JOY comes for those who persevere? I don't think I have it in me. This year has been hard and I mean h.a.r.d. But looking back, maybe they all have been I just haven't been watching them for growth like I have this year.
He who has not looked on Sorrow will never see Joy.
Kahlil Gibran
And what if, what if I have been laboring this past year. What if instead of anticipating more labor, I anticipate the JOY to come. After each labor and delivery, especially the ones I chose not to take pain relief, but instead trusted in myself and my body; I was instantly overcome with the most powerful feelings, one of which was JOY. My body was whipped, my mind exhausted, but my soul was strong. The lump in my throat and stinging tears about to spill...thinking back to those wonderful moments of bringing new life into the world...and the thought of bringing this new life, the one I have battled for this past year, bringing it into the new year.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of life: thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance
†Acts 2:28
Before I could even fully settle on the three little letters, my sister had already made me a JOY banner. It was almost like I thought if I waited long enough, it would pass; this crazy call to JOY. But now it is official, I even have a banner to prove it and a new label for my blog posts...JOY. I choose JOY!
Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him and rejoice with unutterable and exalted joy.
†1 Peter 1:8
