Jesus.Others.You.

 So on this journey toward joy that I embarked upon this staycation, I am pleasantly surprised, although not shocked , at what I am discovering.

It is basically  the same truth that I always discover when seeking truth. God has it. Me, not so much. My ways are not His ways.

Along my journey in life,as I have expressed before, I have seen and encountered and been affected by sin and its ravages at a pretty young age and beyond. It had a profound impact upon how I viewed life, people and God. It caused me to have internal dialogues with myself, and to make promises or covenants with myself based on those experiences. Some helped me to survive. Others, while helping me to survive, created  things I would have to re-visit in life and with God's grace and help, they would need to be  unraveled  and be made new in my thought processes and in my choices and decisions in life.

One thing I have consistently found to be true is that the holy, perfect Father allows me to choose, explore, create and implement any and all solutions or answers to my questions or dilemmas along the way. But He is always within reach when I come to the end of me. Patiently waiting as a matter of fact I'm sure.As I have alluded to here often in my ramblings on My Hiding Place,Gods economy, way of looking at things, and His fix to most things are in direct opposition to mans answers.The longer I walk with Him and the more I listen to Him, and obey, the more I find this to be true.

As I began this journey toward joy, I knew in my Spirit, it would be His revelations that would make me trust that I was experiencing it or recognizing what it could be. However as a human being, I certainly wondered if I could imagine how it would translate into my "feeling" realm.I wasn't sure about that one. What I was sure about, and even gave a voice to it not being was an old Sunday school song  called JOY. I told the Lord, I was so glad we were embarking on this journey together to find joy. How grateful I was ( that I just knew )  that old dumb song I heard at the age of 17, was definitely not the definition of joy.

                 Jesus
                 Others
                  You

I thought it a cute enough song, but kind of dumb and child like.After all, I was newly saved. What did I know about anything, except Jesus had forgiven me and made me new. The becoming new had just begun.

So here, I am, forty one years later, still walking on the road with Jesus.The becoming new has been progressing over these decades with Him. Of late, I have felt like I have been having an "Emmaus road" walk with my Savior. He is there . He is Who He has always been.He is ever the same. I am just seeing Him more clearly. I am hearing Him anew. I am experiencing what Luke wrote about in Luke 24:32 when he said of the men walking the road to Emmaus; "And they said to one another,"Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" Indeed I am feeling that way. More of Him. Less of me and my ideas of what I think He meant. More of me just taking His Word, and Him at His Word, and obeying, accepting, surrendering.

 In light of that, I have learned in the first two weeks of August 2013, that indeed that simple song and the , acronym for JOY is not dumb, nor annoying, nor some sickeningly sweet way to try and convince ourselves to be "Christian" and be happy.It truly is the definition of joy, for the one who chooses to follow Jesus. As we put Him first, we become less invested in ourselves. We become more humble, loving and gentle. The agenda of our life is not ever upon us, but rather on Him and all He has planned and purposed for us.That in turn causes us to pray more for others, care more about the world around us spinning out of control and realize we hold the answer. It is simply Jesus. His Love. His Forgiveness. His Compassion.We are Him to this planet. His Hands and His Feet. I loved these concepts before. Perhaps I occasionally experienced being these things. I also believed "others" not me were the ones who could walk in this daily. I no longer buy into that.

The discovery of joy has been wonderful, and yet completely unexpected. It is not elusive or unattainable. It is not reserved for those who lean towards being jovial or fun in their nature. It is not a personality trait that I was not privy to. It resides deep within me as I cling to the Refuge of my soul.It is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

In a practical, life affirming type of validation, we saw our son from Portland and his wife over the weekend. Talk about joy! And happiness! And love! All of these things were present.

Monday morning as we shared a goodbye cup of coffee with Ryan, we had been speaking of many things. Retirement, living with less,knowing life is about relationships, especially one with Christ, not needing new toys or travels. He then very seriously conveyed this thought: " You are the happiest people I know, and you do not need, nor have much of what the world deems necessary to make one happy."  That was received with thanksgiving and humility. If our children can see that in us, knowing us as they do, weaknesses and all...its definitely joy abiding.