Friday 21 March 2014

Five-Minute Friday: Joy Comes With The Mourning

Five Minute Friday from Lisa-Jo Baker has become a highlight of my week. I find myself getting excited early in the week to find out what the word will be that we have to write about. I enjoy the practice of just writing without editing. I also find that the ideas that come in this writing time are things that I really want to flesh out more for larger writing projects (something I should and could probably do during the week leading up to a new Friday writing time)! J Today’s word is Joy and I’m pretty excited about the challenge of writing about it. As usual, my thoughts will probably be scattered and about a variety of ideas related to joy but that just means more to flesh out later right? J

Joy Comes With the Mourning

Psalm 30:5b (ESV) – Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.


I’ve been thinking a lot about joy these days. It seems joy always comes to mind when I’m thinking/reading about the gospel, about glorying in the cross of Christ. Of course, that’s because, for Christians, the cross brings joy. And we are commanded to be joyful. Now, that makes people confused. Does that mean we have to be happy all the time? To this I say, “No!” I believe that Christian joy is not equated with happiness. It is unrealistic to think that, in this fallen world, we can be happy all the time. But, can we be filled with joy all the time? Yes! Because Christian joy is very much related to the hope we have in Christ, to our faith in God. Today, when I saw the word joy, do you know what the first thing that came to my mind was? It was the night I received a phone call from my brother telling me my mom passed away. Was I happy? Of course not! I was heart broken! I wept! BUT, I also had joy! I turned to God’s word and was brought to the verse from Revelation: “… ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’”  … THAT is joy! Oh, I was mourning (as were we all). The funeral was hard. We were all sad! BUT, there was joy! Because we could glory in the cross and be comforted knowing Mom believed - and, oh how passionately she believed! We could have joy because we knew that her suffering had ended, that she was in the presence of God living in eternal joy! So, when I saw the word joy today another verse jumped out at me from Psalm 30 “… joy comes with the morning.” This refers to the start of a new day that brings joy. And it does! But, I played with the words a bit … for us, with Mom passing away, joy came with the mourning. In our sadness we could still find joy!

My lovely 3.5 year old daughter also wanted to do Five-Minute Friday today. She, of course, can't write yet so she chose to draw instead. She wanted pink paper "because pink is like joy Mommy" so I gave her some pink paper and this is what she drew:


The big black thing is Hawkeye, her cousins' dog. She said Hawkeye is like joy because she (Hawkeye) makes her happy when she licks her face. :) The black circle within a circle above Hawkeye is a sun because sunshine makes people and dogs happy. And the tall purple thing is a flower because, of course, flowers are the perfect picture of joy. I love her reasoning behind her drawings! :) After the 5 minutes were up, she finished the picture with a bone for Hawkeye and then flipped the page over to draw the cat that belongs to the same household and food for the cat. :)




Five Minute Friday

Another thought:  I know these posts are supposed to be unedited but ... I remembered something I wanted to add but apparently forgot when Annalise interrupted my thoughts to ask how to draw Hawkeye. :) I wanted to write about the other thought (more an image actually) that came to my mind after I heard the news about my mom passing away. She had been wheelchair bound the last few years of her life as she didn't really have the strength anymore to walk - rheumatoid arthritis had taken it's toll on her. BUT, the image that came to mind was joy filled. It was an image of my mom in a beautiful green meadow ... and she was running, running with joy, just because she could. :) THAT is joy!

6 comments:

  1. Hi! I'm visiting from Five Minute Friday. Thanks for writing! It's amazing that as believers we can have joy even during the hardest times. And I love your little girl's version of Five Minute Friday! =)

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    1. Thanks! I was really excited that she wanted to participate by drawing! :) I can't wait until she knows how to write and she can participate with me in her own writing! :)

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  2. Visiting from FMF. I love the photo and I totally agree with your assessment of joy :) Have a great day!

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  3. Oh, I love your helper! That is so cute, and such a good idea. Maybe I can use it with my own kids.

    And I totally understand about joy even when your mom passes away. The thought that she is no longer in any pain was the only reason I had for joy at that time. Thank you God for the hope of Heaven.

    Hugs,
    Melinda
    (visiting from FMF)

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! :) I love keeping my girls busy when I have my quiet time for devotions (and now when I do my writing on Fridays). :) And yes, thank God for the hope of Heaven, which is ours only because of the cross of Christ!

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