Keep your joy!

In the course of the week, as a single mother, of course, I have double duty. I do all the cleaning, laundry, buying clothes, playing games, school work, taxicab, scheduling, stressing over bills, I change diapers FOR TWO, yard work, praise God at church and work my ministry, work a job and still come home to spend time with my children and say their prayers, read God’s Word to them and tuck them into bed. Lately God has been dealing with me about one thing in particular and I thought I might pass it along:NO MATTER WHAT--KEEP YOUR JOY!“Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations” [James 1:2] Ok, most of you gals know my story, I’m a mother of three precious children, in the throws of a nasty divorce from a man who was very violent and a strung out drug addict. Not a pretty picture. I tried hard to bring him to Christ for 8 years, but he just refused Him … I have a demanding 2 yr old, 3 yr old and 7 yr old who he is not able to see nor wants or tries to. I have come from a beautiful house in the best subdivision with the nice SUV and manicured lawn, 50k a yr job and all the best luxuries, to no job, no husband, on food stamps, living with my mother, driving the minivan- all within the past two years. I have had it all- but I wouldn’t trade where I am now for the world, because now I have Christ and that is where the JOY truly is! Sure, I want to cry, scream, cuss, punch something or someone, or worse yet , give up sometimes. That’s just Satan wanting to take away my joy! PRAY AND PURSUE! Was I really going to let the world around me rob me and my precious little ones of that joy! I know it’s hard to get through the day, week, month, or longer sometimes! I know that just when you think you can’t take ‘one more thing‘ what happens? ONE MORE THING! I get into situations where I can feel my insides cringe and flop at the thought of one more confrontation (phone calls, e-mails, bills, fits, diapers)! Concentrate on the things that have gone your way. Concentrate on God’s blessings and goodness! Concentrate on what you have and not what you don’t have! Concentrate on your family! Here I am now … the end of another hectic, crazy, hair-pulling, teeth-grinding, fist-clenching week. One that I thought I could not get through! One that I almost let get the best of me! I kept my joy despite myself! My two youngest are making me play-dough cookies!!! Last night as I tucked my oldest into bed, he says “mom, I love you so very much, you are the coolest mom I know” Now, that’s worth every bit of it. I have a coke and some Reese’s Cups next to me, it is ALL GOOD!
JOYFUL AND ALL GOOD I SAY!
Remember my new motto: PRAY AND PURSUE!