Joy – Life with us ~ The Wandering Workentins

As I’m sitting here reading in the Word this morning I received this Verse for the Day in my email; how appropriate for me as I think about my day and how would the Lord have me to serve others today.

Today we are spending the day with our 16 yr old girl, going to go walk along the beach to enjoy God’s splendor and run a couple of errands. All with a smile of joy on our face.

Yesterday when we left the grocery store, our girl said “that cashier was pretty grumpy ~ did you see her just tossing our food?” I said yes, but did you see that even though she was grumpy towards us, we both said to her “have a great day” and smiled ~ though she probably couldn’t see our smiles on our lips but hopefully in our eyes.So I am thankful for this verse to continue to remind me to serve with a smile and joy no matter what I am dealing with especially since we never know what someone else is dealing with.

My daily devotional also included Romans 11:1-12

and

are the two verses that jumped out at me….the first question “has God ever rejected his people (me)? and then followed up with verse 12 where we are told “God has never rejected his people (me)! I have often felt rejected by people in my life…people are human and so yes they can reject me…

has never rejected me!!!! Sadly, I have rejected Him at times but HE never!!! And for that I am so thankful. Ron and I have done a lot of reflecting over our lives, maybe it comes with our age and birthday’s – two of our grandchildren turned 13 in the past two months!!! How can that be? Weren’t they just little babies who were snuggle bugs ~ oh how I miss those times!!!

But I digress…rejection by others…so painful and sometimes very hard to deal with but remembering that God has never or will He ever reject me brings me comfort and peace!!!

I’m not even sure where I was going with this but reflecting back on the conversation with The Girl yesterday about the grumpiness of the cashier and how we can be different and be more Christ like is to give a smile and share joy with those we come into contact with even when we are having a hard time as we never know what someone else is going through…so smile through your mask

and share the joy of the Lord wherever you go today!!!

I don’t know why I am always amazed when the Lord shows me things that I have been thinking or contemplating…yet I am still amazed.

I set my alarm for 5:00a as I went to bed last night;

at 4:15a I woke up wide awake…

so after laying in bed for about 15 minutes I decided to just get up…

and I am so thankful I did…I had such a wonderful time with the Lord this morning…

I had a variety of scriptures on my list to read this morning:

And I wrote and wrote….

God gave his most precious gift to me ~ His Son! The Lord reminds me daily to not be afraid ~ He is always with me. I need to teach others (by example as much as words) as the Lord has taught me ~ that discipline is not fun nor easy but is important in our lives. Everything good comes from the Lord. He never changes, it is me/us who change!!! God knows our lives and He only wants good for us ~ if we follow Him, He will guide us in the right paths. God is my rock and refuge and is always available. God thinks of me way more than I think of Him. The Lord will always fight for me ~ my job is to be calm.

CALM

Choose Joy!!!

Praise the Lord for where I have come from!!

And where I am and where I am headed!!

Choose Love!!!

Awareness + Contact = Change**

Be honest, not hurtful,

Be calm ~ a soft tongue turns away wrath.

Singleness of heart…don’t be so stubborn.

Old self ~ whine/gossip

New self ~ go to the source, be direct, address the issue head on

And don’t forget the

As I sat and thought about the different scriptures I had read this morning and was spending time in prayer and thinking of some changes that are upcoming in some friends lives and thinking back to all the different life experiences I have been involved in over the years and the many, many people I have met I was amazed at how God’s timing is perfect for each specific moment in my life.

I am who I am today because of every experience, every thought, every person I have met, every job I have had and I wouldn’t be me without each of these things.

One of the books I am using in my quiet time

Image result for discovering joy in philippians

Philippians is a book that reminds me to be encouraged despite of hardships and trials. That it is important to imitate and strive to be Christlike and to be content with what I have and where I am and to see JOY in each situation no matter how difficult things may feel at the time. And that everything has its time and that God’s timing is perfect all the time ~ all the time God is Good!!!

I have felt so encouraged today.

I have drank almost 60 oz of water, walked the circle around the ranch two different times today, made and ate a healthy and delicious dinner and had a great afternoon/evening with the kidlets.

Life is good and I am so thankful for where I am today and that I am blessed to have the best helpmate by my side!!!

***********

**Awareness + Contact = Change**

was a phrase given to me by Tom, our therapist for two and a half years in the late 80’s and I was reminded today that things can’t change if you don’t know about them and that it is important to be authentic in my relationships and that even when there are difficult things to deal with it is best to face them head on.

And so I prayed this morning to be able to talk to with someone openly and honestly, not letting fear dictate what I would say, to speak softly like the squishy marshmallow and to share God’s love and joy.

I am so thankful for my quiet time this morning

as I was so blessed to have such a great day today and I know it was because the Lord went before me and I responded as He would have me to do.

Category: Joy

Serving with a Smile

Confirmation and Joy