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From Joy to Defunct????
Literally! This month we have focused on joy. Joy in family, hobbies, self, work, and faith. We often go through our days forgetting to find joy and are always looking at the glass half empty instead of half full. However, we are days after Thanksgiving heading in the Christmas craziness and we easily can be derailed with decision fatigue. There are decisions around every corner. Our lists are endlessly long. Events are never-ending. Gift-giving is a challenge these days as it seems like everything has to be so grandiose. Shopping this year has been a challenge as well with out-of-stock items. We wake up each morning seemingly trying to put…
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Thankfulness
I write this post with Thanksgiving being tomorrow. A day that will be filled with an abundance of food and gathering with our family. I am thankful for my family, health, and all that God has given me throughout the year. We especially are mindful to be thankful during the month of November and on Thanksgiving, but we should always have a thankful heart. God has done so much for us and has provided for us as he sees fit. Maybe not in our timing but when he knows it is the right time. God truly has blessed us with his endless mercies. I often tell my children to be…
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Finding Joy in Your Work
As the verse in Ecclesiastes 3:22 says we should rejoice in our work. God has given us our lot (work) to do and as long as we have God at the center our work should be joyful. There are days that it is hard to be joyful about our work. Trust me, being a farmer this summer with no chance of rain in the forecast or when there was a chance of rain it didn’t show it was hard to find the joy in work. That is where I had to have a child-like faith that God will provide. Indeed he did a little too late perhaps for this year’s…
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Finding Joy in Hobbies
We continue our series of finding joy today with our focus on hobbies. Early this year we discussed the lost art of hobbies and finding hobbies to do as a couple. Both of our articles expressed the importance and value of having a hobby and being open to a hobby to enjoy with your spouse. Today I am missing my niece getting confirmed as I have a sick kiddo and am having a hard time missing such a milestone. However, it has given me an opportunity to do a hobby that I love… sewing!! However, I did not set out with utmost joy or look at it as an opportunity.…
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Finding Joy in Family
As I am writing posts today, I am keeping close to my sick kiddo. So many bugs are going around, who really knows which one he has. He kept me up most of the night tossing and turning, and the “cuddles” he wanted were more like a spinning, sweaty tornado. However as I sipped my cup of coffee this morning, all I felt was blessed. Blessed that I had a kiddo to watch over. My husband and I were unable to have children for 14 years. We became just two old shoes who answered each other’s sentences. And now we are a trio of endless possibilities! Family for me is…
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Finding Joy in Self: A New Creation in Christ
Contributed by Liz Hunt From the title of the post, you might be thinking, “How does this fit with living a humble life for God? Doesn’t this put our focus on us?” I will use part of an Oswald Chambers quote to begin my response, “Stop being self-conscious, stop being a sanctified prig…” and rejoice that you belong to the Lord! Having joy in self has nothing to do with self and everything to do with what Christ has done for us and in us. As I said in the last post, I have long struggled with living a life of ceaseless joy. I have good intentions, but I often…
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Finding Joy in Your Faith: Growing in Christ
Contributed by Liz Hunt This morning I sat down at my desk and made a list of to-dos. I divided them into two columns 1) must do today, and 2) should do today, but can wait until later this week. I had the usual culprits on the list including paying bills, washing sheets, writing my blog posts, and walking the dogs. A few non-regular items made the list including making fruit pizza for my niece’s confirmation celebration, checking to see if my sauerkraut is done, and reading a couple of magazines that came in the mail. At about 11 am I realized that the magazines would go in the pile…
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November Devotional: My Joy Comes from the Lord
Contributed by Liz Hunt Scripture for the week: “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.” Psalm 43:44 Devotional Thought: Sometimes, in the midst of life’s chaos and challenges, it is hard to remember that God is our God, that He is our exceeding joy, and we get to praise Him. We don’t have to praise Him. In fact, we can ignore Him all we want. None of that changes that He is our God. What praising Him and worshipping Him do change is our joy. The joy of the Lord does…
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Faith Expectations: Learning to look heavenward.
Contributed by Liz Hunt We have spent this month talking about expectations. We have defined them, looked at day-to-day expectations and family expectations. Now we turn to faith expectations. As Christians, what should expectations should we have for our faith. Romans 8:25 says, “But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation.” Clearly, the focus of our expectations should be eternal. When our expectations are oriented toward the heavenly we rest in the hope of forever with our Lord. I have to be honest here. I get sidetracked from the heavenly and get stuck in the earthly quite often.…
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Family Expectations: We are all unique.
Contributed by Jessica Clemens If you are a first-time reader, you may not realize how important our family connection is to us. For those of you who have been following us, you know that most of what we do in life involves our family, or that time for family is what we strive for. Our blog is written by three sisters from three different walks of life. We have very diverse careers, are parenting at different stages in life, and have husbands that couldn’t be more different! However, there is one thread that keeps us close and that is family. Family connections can be tough for some. We often hear…
