New Day

It is a new day.

And that is grace.

Words Without PIctures

I think I may have finally figured it out. After all these years of being told and having read that the joy of the Lord is our strength (in the book of Nehemiah), I think I might just understand what that means. Up until recently, my head knew the words but I didn't really know how to access a strength that came from this joy.

Oh I have believed that God has given me strength over time but I think I may well have missed out on strength available to me but not accessed because of my own choices. I think the understanding of this truth lies at the same crossroads where we make these kinds of choices between joy...or something else.

Recently I have been inspired to choose joy. There are some remarkable people in this world who have lived some pretty difficult lives, walked some challenging roads and yet you'd never know it by their demeanor. They exude joy. This inspires me to do the same, even when I don't feel like it. Especially when I don't feel like it.

Here is my theory. If, at the end of the day, a hard life is what is and what remains, would I not rather be joyful along the way than miserable? And maybe, just maybe, a hard life might be a little less hard when joy is present.

Knowing I can actually choose joy in the midst of chaos is necessary. Reaching for God's grace to choose the joy that He provides, and resulting strength, is key.

This week I saw the connection...for real! I decided to choose joy and decided again and again as I came to that same intersection where choice lay many times in one day. The days were better. Circumstances didn't necessarily change but the days were better. I felt stronger, less overwhelmed by some significant challenges.

I have also felt joy. Finally understanding truth and how to apply it to my life has a way of contributing to that! A little further in the passage in Nehemiah where the joy of the Lord being our strength is mentioned (see above link), we read how choosing joy and understanding God's Word did bring joy...for real!

Someone Else's Christmas

Watching a breakfast television show while working out this morning, I saw the band Quinzy perform Someone Else's Christmas (well done, by the way)...at least I'm pretty sure that was the name of the song. What was powerful for me was watching this band sing while the news ticker scrolled through on the bottom of my screen with reports of fires, murders, court battles and more. For those impacted directly by these news stories and so many others, including loneliness, it may well be someone else's Christmas.

To reach out and show love to someone, to forgive a wrong, to extend grace and mercy to those who struggle with something, with anything, with you...this is the spirit of Christmas. To humbly receive the ultimate gift of love and forgiveness, grace and mercy is not just the spirit of Christmas; it is Christmas and it needn't only be someone else's.

Kindness

Today as I was reading I was struck by God's kindness. That is a strange way to put it but it is how it was. I have considered God's mercy and grace but rarely do I think very simply about His kindness. This morning, the fact that God is kind jumped out at me, suddenly, and quite unexpectedly.

When grace touches my life, and this is a daily occurrence, I am also a recipient of God's kindness. Let us think for just a minute about what kindness looks like. If we put a human face to it, how does kindness find us? There will be some ways we all experience kindness that will look similar. There will be other ways that it is unique to who we are and the circumstances we are in.

Maybe kindness catches us is in the the elderly gentleman as he offers his shopping cart to us and doesn't want the coin in return. Maybe the person in the car ahead of ours in the drive-thru pays for our coffee or perhaps a teen holds the door open for us at the mall.  Or maybe it comes through a friend's encouraging email or post on our facebook wall. These kindnesses are neither expected nor deserved. These kindnesses are not in exchange for us being kind first. These kindnesses are a gift.

Now let's magnify this type of kindness by a number greater than we even know. That kind of kind is God's.