Joy-FULL February 2011

Hello friends! It seems that in my quest for efficiency in the home making/homeschooling department over the past several months, and in trying desperately to UN addict myself from the computer, I've lost something. It's a little something I call joy. I've been living my life as if it's one long TO DO list, not something to be savored, treasured or lived to the fullest. So, to combat that loss of joy, I'm going to blog each day of February about something that brings me joy and how I'm bringing that back into my life in some small or not so small way. For today, let's start with defining joy. According to http://www.wiktionary.org/ JOY is both a noun and a verb. Here's what else it says;

Noun

joy (countable and uncountable; plural joys)

1. (uncountable) The feeling of happiness, extreme cheerfulness.
   

   
   

   They will be a source of strength and joy in your life.



2. (countable) An activity etc which causes this feeling.






The joys and demands of new parents.

Verb

to joy (third-person singular simple present joys, present participle joying, simple past and past participle joyed)

1. (intransitive) To feel joy, to rejoice.  [quotations ▼]
   
   
   
   • 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 18:
     

     
     

     I swore readily enough to this and he joyed with exceeding joy and embraced me round the neck while love for him possessed my whole heart.



2. (transitive, archaic) To enjoy.  [quotations ▼]
   
   
   
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.i.2:
     

     
     

     For from the time that Scudamour her bought, / In perilous fight, she neuer ioyed day [...].

SO, now we know what JOY means according to the dictionary. But what does that mean in real life? Does it mean that we never do anything unpleasant, feel discouraged or are slightly less than UBER-perky? Of course not. Real joy comes from doing the unpleasant things with a good attitude, knowing that after discouragement comes ENcouragement, and that not everyone is UBER perky without coffee. Joy comes in doing difficult tasks for people that you love because they need help, it's encouraging a friend that is experiencing a heartbreaking time (or allowing a friend to minister to you) and knowing that some personality types are never UBER perky, caffeine or not. : ) Something that's been missing in my life recently is music. D and P are getting old enough to have musical tastes of their own these days, and sadly, they've outgrown Veggie Tales Sing-Alongs. Both of them seem to prefer Dan's style of music more than my own, and while I don't have a personal vendetta against classic rock, it's not my favorite either. It just doesn't lift the soul, ya know? My taste ranges more to the hymns, drum and bugle core, and Gospel Quartet music. I like music that you can sing along to, and I LOVE 4 part harmony. Anywho, I digress. In an effort to be 'nice Mom' I've started letting Dan and the boys have free reign over the radio on long trips (like to Albuquerque and back in one day) and again, I have nothing against classic rock, but *sigh* I miss my music. So while Dan and I were going through boxes this weekend, I found a box of old tapes (yes TAPES) that had some OLD favorites on them. I put them in the car, and fired them up the next time I was in the car. I think poor David wanted to cover his ears, as I kept turning it up, and up, and up and singing along all the louder : ) What JOY flooded my heart as I remembered all the words, and the harmony parts! What lightness of spirit as I cruised on down the highway. So, I'm going to reintroduce my home, my family and myself to the joys of REAL music. Music that reminds us of why we live, why we sometimes need to take the high road even when it's more difficult and why we need to love others so much.

Once upon a time, a LONG time ago, when Dan and I were dating, we got to go see the Cathedrals at Moody Bible Church in Chicago. I am pretty sure Dan wasn't that excited, but it was pretty much the highlight of my LIFE at that time. (Yes, I know I'm a dork and that I was born 50 years too late) I got to meet them all, listen to their testimonies, etc. I LOVE to listen to the author of a song sing it. Even if they don't have the best voice, miss a few notes on the accompaniment, or whatever, it's STILL the song in it's most meaningful, authentic version of that song. So, along with that story, here's a link to a video of the Cathedrals and a song they did that night. Roger Bennett wrote that song while he was battling cancer and it makes me choke up every time I hear it. Every. SINGLE. Time. Not with sadness, but with a light heart and trust in GOD. Listen and see if it doesn't bring some joy to your heart and soul. I'll be back tomorrow with something else that brings me joy.