Joy To The World

Recently I was reading about feelings.Feelings are like our relational compass. Indicators of the direction that our relationships are going. Signals that something is good or something is bad.

Joy is a feeling. It's a gooooood feeling. A reallly good feeling.

That being said, I want to share with you all a few glimpses into a day that filled my heart with joy and my house with laughter, shouting and good food. Incidentally, did you know that nearly every use of the word joy or one of its derivatives in the Bible is used in conjunction with singing, shouting or feasting?

We feasted, shouted, giggled, sang and shared the Joy, Joy, Joy we had deep in our hearts.

Let me show you what I mean.

There's joy in them thar eyes, I tell ya.

Brown-eyed Lacy Lou. She's got it. Joy. And best of all, she shares it. Just look at that grin.

Us girls, we decided to hang out and play a board game and watch some Disney TV.

Because nothing brings joy to your heart quite like the music and dance of Hannah Montanna and the sweet giggles of your opponent failing to get the Clue's worked out just right and knowing your going to whip her tail.

But, those boys. Well, they decided to fill the house with loud shouts of joy and jubilation like "Smoked ya!'" and "Oh Snap!" and "Dude!" and "Imma let you have that one!"

along with deep belly laughs, grunts, and other bodily noises that I won't mention on here. Because they are just gross.

After a little game and song and dance time, us girls headed to the kitchen. A place we love to go.

Don't let these faces fool you. They have not lost their joy. Just perplexed at the fact that I don't just buy cookie dough at the store, but make it.

They are starting to recognize the dough now. Joy at the thought of warm, chocolate cookies starts to enter their little minds and smiles creep across their faces soon.

Or it could be that she has the equivalent of one of her dad's power tools in her hand right there. Well, almost the equivalent. Mines a little old and weak. But, you know what I mean. Using an electric mixer can make you feel powerful and joyful all at the same time.

By the time the cookies went in the oven, it was time for this old lady to find some joy in a little quiet time. What to do? Oh, I know. Banish the kids to the outdoors. Yes!

In my quiet time I cleaned the cookie mess and made a new mess cooking dinner. I find it pure joy to cook and clean. I'm just weird like that.

It wasn't long before the call of electronics lured the kids back inside and my quiet time came to an end. But, dinner was ready. Hip, hip horray for a feast!

Boys. Boys! BOYS!! Griffin?! Ty?! Gabe?! Hey- is anyone listening? ANYONE?!

Dinner is ready PEOPLE! Come to the table. Now.

That did it. The mention of food and their focus of joy in electronics shifted rapidly to the joy that growing pre-teen boys find in food.

Notice the nearly clean plates and empty glasses. Boys are so much better at being adventerous eaters than girls. I speak from personal experience.

Griffin, still hungry? Would you like a little salt and pepper on those fingers? Don't forget we have cookies for dessert.

Not so much on the clean plates here. But, full of joy none the less.

Look at that gopher smile. We have a song that goes with that smile and it goes like this.

We are the gopher-girls.

We really go-for guys.

But, they don't go-for us.

We wonder why?

Phhh-Phhh, Phhh-Phhh

(sound made by using that exact face above)

Guys really won't have any trouble going for these girls one day. Even if they eat like birds. Because they are full of joy and share it freely!

This last Sunday at church, Gary Thomas was in and talked about Pure Pleasure, which happens to be the title of a new book he has out. It was a great message and I can't wait to read the book. What stuck with me most is that sometimes we get so hell-bent (yes, I said that) on filtering our lives as Christians that miss oppurtunities to take pleasure and find joy in our lives.

What pure pleasures have you enjoyed lately? How have you experienced joy in your relationships? Share with me, because I'd really like to hear. It would make my day.