Joy

No actual balcony, no actual sea but there still needs to be time in my day to reflect. At home it is harder not to be distracted by things that need to be done. At any given moment there are a whole list of possibilities to do.

As I started to reflect on the past week it just seemed a blur, a week that had all rolled in to a frenetic attempt to get through each day. It was actually hard to distinguish the days.

In the midst of the pace I had lost the idea of joy, of blessings given day by day. I was reading one day this past week about how it is more natural to be fearful and to worry than to be joyful. I had found myself slipping in to this fear and worry in the busyness of my week, not because there was any big thing to be fearful about or to worry about, but because I hadn’t taken the opportunity to find joy.

I think for a lot of my life I have expected joy to find me, now I realize it is up to me to look for the glimmer, the splash, the sheer beauty of joy in each day. It’s always there, I don’t always look.

As I reflect about the week I am looking for the joy in each day that perhaps I missed at the time!

Last Sunday as I left the sparkling water and lush green hills of the Central Coast there was joy in just the looking around me. A moment of stopping and looking gave joy for the rest of the day, made me reflect on a God who could be so creative as to have a still beautiful bay on one side of the hill and a wild sea on the other.

On Monday there was the joy of reading to students who were really enjoying the book, who had got involved in the life of the main character and wanted to know what happened next.

On Tuesday there was the joy of caring people taking time to listen and understand.

On Wednesday there was the joy of spending time with a friend, not even having to talk all the time – being secure in our friendship.

On Thursday there was the joy of having time to read in bed, get up a little later before the teaching day started. Then the part of the week that is always so special and brings joy just anticipating it – spending time with family and playing with my grandsons.

Friday, the joy of spending time with colleagues after work and being energized for the weekend.

Finding joy in every day wasn’t too hard! Imagine all the points of joy I missed because I didn’t look. Every day there are gifts we need to look for and take hold of. Everyday there is joy.