Be Joyful!

Today, at church, our pastor spoke about thankfulness which wasn't a surprise since Thanksgiving is this week. But he also talked about being joyful and how most people that you see today, even Christians, are not joyful. We are all so focused on ourselves and what we lack that we fail to realize the amazing blessings God has bestowed on us. He told a story about a 14 year old girl who lost part of her leg in an accident. Her therapist met her for therapy after her surgery to find her just as bubbly and joyful as she was before. "Look how much I have left!" she said, as she held up her leg. "The doctors say it will be much easier to attach a prosthesis since they were able to keep some of the leg below the knee!" This 14 year old girl inspired me. She chose not to focus on what she lacked but on how much she did have.
I began to examine my own heart and attitude only to realize that I often focus on what we lack, one of those things being time with Justin. Since he is a resident, his time with us is very limited. I see others who have their husbands around more and whose children get to see their Daddy all the time, and I become jealous. I often become heartbroken when Harrison wakes up in the morning asking for Daddy and I have to tell him that he is at work yet again. But what I realized this morning was that focusing on what we lack only drowns out the joy in our lives. I started thinking about how awesome Sundays are, and how thankful I am for that day of the week. You see, right now, Justin is off on Sundays. Harrison and I cherish that day of the week that we get to spend with him. I am very grateful that he is able to spend that whole day with us each week. It brings joy to my heart to be able to tell Harrison on Sunday mornings "Daddy is home today" and to hear him say with excitement in his voice, "Daddy home day!" His face just lights up when he is with his Daddy, and that is something to look forward to every week! We are so thankful for Justin and for what he is to us. We are thankful that no matter how demanding his job may be, we will always be his first priority. We may lack the quantity of time with him, but we are thankful that the time we do have is quality time! I just thought I would write this to encourage you all to focus on the blessings in your lives and to be joyful in the Lord, no matter what your circumstances.

playing with Daddy outside