2020 Goals: Joy



I'm going to admit something.  I have spent a good portion of my life martyring myself to joyless living, as if enjoying the life God gave me was somehow vanity and sin.  Couple that with a lot of struggles over the past decade, and some wonky thought patterns in my young adulthood, and joy has not been something I've been able to obtain.

It baffled me that others had such joy in life while I struggled.  I don't mean just being happy and entertained.  I mean real joy.  The kind of joy that bears fruit and benefits others in healthy ways.

"Holy before Happy" is a common mantra among many in Christendom.  In my feeble pursuit of holy, I lost happy.

I decided something as I observed others and mulled over my thoughts.  God placed me here.  God gave me a life and I now believe that He wants us to live our lives well here on earth.  He wants us to create, to grow, to cultivate, to nurture, to experiment, to discover, to help, to entertain, to develop....

It isn't wrong to cultivate a fruitful, active, enjoyable life here on earth.  It isn't wrong to not struggle all the time and be able to take a vacation, host a party, buy that expensive Starbucks...and thank God for it!

As the beautiful and inspiring Tasha Tudor has said, "Take Joy."

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