Dear Joy:

I know you.  You’re a choice, you’re a command, you’re a gift.  I can reach a little farther, try a little harder, climb a little higher – sure I’ll find you.

Joy, yes, I’ve felt you.  You’re in the watching of the stars.  The fading light of the sunset.  The sound of a baby’s giggle when I tickle his tiny toes.  But you come, and then you go.  Why?

Maybe it’s because you are not the only one who comes.  Hurt comes, too, and Fear.  We try to fight, we’re called to Rejoice, we try to obey, we try…

Joy, you’re my Word for the Year.  I haven’t wanted to say it out loud, because… what if I fail?

We’re only human, after all, and if we’re being honest – Joy will come… and then she’ll go.  But Jesus never will.

Oh, Lord.  “My heart says this about you: ‘Seek His face.’ Your face, Lord, I will seek” (Psalm 27:8).  And my green dictionary that no longer lives at the bottom of a moving box says that when Your Word writes “face,” it can mean Presence.  It can mean Person.  It can mean Countenance.

Oh, how gracious You are, that You want us to be seeking You.  You beckon us to find You.  “Come to Me,” You say.  Come to Your Person, Your Presence, look upon Your Countenance. You don’t appear for a moment, then hide beneath the hills at night, like a sunset.  You don’t show Your glory one instant, then disappear behind a cloudy sky the next, like the stars.  No – though our Hurts and our Fears want us to believe that You are far – You never are.  You promised You would never leave us or forsake us; now, help us believe You?

And instead of chasing Joy this year,

I think that I’ll chase

You.

Yes – I hope this year holds many simple joys. May there be tickle fights and pillow forts with little ones.  May there be mini-bouquets picked by little hands. I hope this year sees us with sunbeams on our face and sunsets in our windows.  I pray for many more days of brownie-baking and puzzle-making and story-sharing and simple, everyday Joy in my home, simple, everyday Joy with my people, drinking in God’s beautiful world.  But like my old friend used to say: “Whatever you do, do it for Jesus,” so I pray that every moment of Joy may be for You, and in You, and to You.

And I will chase You

And I will fall

But You’ll be there

Won’t You?

And these verses are a lifeline, a preserver, a foundation:

“A person’s steps are established by the Lord, and he takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord supports him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).

Friends, I don’t know where your steps are today. But I pray that though you fall, you won’t be overwhelmed; you’ll feel the Lord’s hand right there with you. And we’ll chase Him together; and Joy, she’ll come along, for seeking Him.

Laura