Finding Joy in the Junk

Back in high school, well, let's just say I was not the most scholastic gal, and learning was stressful and hard.If the sun was shining, I would day dream in class, eventually ask for the hall pass and just go walking and basking in the sunshine. Sometimes the beach would call to me and I would just leave campus altogether. My husband jokes this is because I am solar powered! That very well may be true, but I just know it was my escape, my happy place if you will. If you are under 18 (and you know who you are.)  I do not recommend or condone this approach to finding joy!These days I feel more balanced. Of course I can't just blow off the day and I am fine with my fair share of responsibility and challenge but sometimes, well actually all the time, I desire to be happy and I look for ways to find joy. I mean I search for it like a heat seeking missile. I just can't stand to be sad or mad or grumpy or hopeless.My favorite trainer at the gym always says, "You will know that you have reached your physical limitations when your heart rate is through the roof and you find yourself  looking for a way out.  I have a friend who refers to it as hitting the pressure release valve.I am always looking for a way out. Not necessarily  out of the situation itself, but out of the darkness, out of the despair, reaching for that valve for me and for others.Sometimes it is simply bringing comic relief to a tense situation, or pointing out a teeny tiny silver lining and then laughing at how pitiful it is. Perhaps shining light on the bright side of things or just throwing caution to the wind and going for some ice cream.  A playful splash in the face, a flick of icing, loud music, good food or your own combination of pressure valve pushing.I will find the flower in the junkyard of the worst day, raise it up tall and spin it around like I just found diamonds or Willy Wonka's last golden ticket!  It is the only way I know to survive! Some folks are not so good at this. They either want to wallow in their circumstances or maybe just plan to be joyful when the struggle is gone. I told a friend once, "My attitude will improve when my circumstances do!"  I guess that's one approach but I have come to realize that is no way to live. Holding onto stress and worry, feel to me like parking in a dead end alley or willfully jumping into a deep well. What's the point in that?  I want to tow them back or throw them a rope and help them climb their way out. People are hurting! Life is hard and too short to stay in sad hopeless places. We have got to find joy in the everyday. Happiness is contingent upon circumstances. But Joy is a state of being that comes from the inside out and can be accessed no matter our whereabouts, no matter our circumstances.Be good to yourself and those around you.Be the friend someone else needs.Yesterday I asked EVERY retail clerk I came in contact with about their day! I simply said, " How's your day?"  There were looks of shock and amazement and some reluctant smiles. Joy perhaps? I know it's in there.Sometimes mine wants to bubble over and it cries out when times are tough. "Let me out!"  "Use me!" "Access me!"What brings you Joy?  What feels like the way out for you.This world promises us trials. I don't know anyone who has ever had a year , a month a week or even a day without some trials. God knows this and fills his Word with abundant encouragement to sustain us. His Word has this to say:God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.1 Corinthians 10:13A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  James 1:2I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. Psalm 27:13This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. John 15:11-12AND SOME OTHER GOOD QUOTES It is pleasing to God whenever thou rejoicest or laughest from the bottom of thy heart. --Martin LutherResolve to keep happy and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.--Helen KellerHow do you find joy in the midst of your junk yard? Some find it in seeking solitude, or blasting their favorite music while cooking. Others go for a long, long, ( as long as you need it to be) run.I like to laugh,  maybe at an old movie, ( we love Meet the Parents) or with a friend or even my family. Joy and laughter are a welcome distraction in tough times, even if  just for a moment.Even in that place. Could there be joy?  Could we dare look, even peek out of the cover of our sheets or manhole and dare to ask God for a flower or a break in the clouds or a ray of light, a friend with a meal or a cold drink or a hug?I bet when you find that God given pressure valve in you, there is someone else wired that same way waiting for your smile, your kindness, your calm quiet understanding, or your plate of cookies. I dare you to find it, release it, let that joy spread like wild flowers through someone else's junkyard.

Nehemiah 8:10

Don't be dejected and sad, for the joy of the LORD is your strength!"