Candle of JOY

"...for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” ~ Nehemiah 8:10

So much of our time is spent waiting. Waiting in line. Waiting until Friday. Waiting in traffic. Waiting until your married. Waiting until your kids are bigger. Waiting for something... We need to remember one thing.

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalm 118:24

Today. We are not talking about yesterday and the mistakes we made. Nor are we talking about tomorrow (because God will take care of that too.) Today...right now is a gift from God. What are you going to do with it? Those people in your life right now, God has put there for a reason. Yes, even the odd ones at Wal-Mart.

There are moments everyday that I let go by. Moments were I'm spaced out thinking about...yeah, you guessed it.... ME. What I want to do. Where I want to go. What I am in the mood to do. Here I am thinking about me and I miss those people walking around me. Those opportunities that God gave me to reach out to others with a smile or kind word.

Or even more guilty of me ~ I miss those moments of joy with my children. There's homework, dirty clothes, dirty dishes, messy house ~ so many distractions...so many things that have to get done... or what?? That joy of seeing your children run to you with open arms kinda' goes away when they get older. ;D Yeah, those hugs I get from my oldest son are rare anymore. (I still get a kiss goodnight!) I need to make more time with them for fun. For JOY, not just to help with dishes.

With joy comes strength. Think about it. Those moments that you seize which filled you with joy...those moments that you didn't just let pass by...those moments when joy is in your soul. They are filled with strength. You feel confident. That comes from God.

It is the other moments when your annoyed because traffic is backed up...the moments when the check-out line is too long...when you are just waiting to put the kids in bed for a moment of peace...It is then, when your body and soul are weary. When you are tired and don't care. Those are moments Satan is there making you weak.

We all have some of both days. After all, we are not in paradise yet. I just pray that in those moments of weakness, when you want to be left alone, that some one will come and bring joy to you in some small way. It is amazing how much light one candle can bring. How much joy a simple act can give. Lord, let me be that candle in some one's life.

P.S. This weekend we are doing our February service act. We are helping Faith In Action. We even have another family going to be helping us. Can't wait!