Be Joyful.

     My friend gave me a CD from her church that she thought I'd like.  The pastor was preaching about Joy. True joy.  One thing that stuck out to me is that he said that happiness is different than joy.  He, she, this or that can make you happy one minute and you can be sad the next.  Feelings such as happiness are fleeting.  True joy is not.
     Joy is a theme in my life.  My daughters name means "joyful spirit".  when I was little, my day care provider would call me by the middle name "joy" since my parents never gave me a middle name.  I like to think of myself as a joyful person. Even in the darkest times, I have held onto the joy. Even when I couldn't "feel" it, it was in my heart -it's a part of who I am.  I held onto that joy because I had HOPE.
Theopedia says this: Joy is a state of mind and an orientation of the heart. It is a settled state of contentment, confidence and hope.  
Joy doesn't mean always walking around with a smile on your face but finding hope and contentment in all situations. There will be dark days in all of our lives.  I've experienced many over the years.  I remember one day in particular, coming home from work a few weeks after Micah died and telling my husband that it hurt. The missing, the ache of not holding him, never being able to kiss his face again...It hurt. So bad. It hurt to breathe, to think, to move.  But even in that moment, there was something deep inside me that told me that I'd be okay, that I could make it. To hold onto hope.  To hold onto the joy - the joy that is my strength.