I am learning to find joy in the journey. Do you know what I mean? This little wooden plaque sits on my desk as a daily reminder to find the joy. In the day to day humdrum of life, I believe there is joy to be found. I’ve missed it for far too long. And now I’m beginning to recognize it in the most unusual places.
Last week, I heard from many of you in response to my blog, “Who is God calling you?”. I was delighted to hear about your God given names. And for those of you still waiting to hear from God, I believe you will hear. God is faithful. My heart was blessed by the response. You are not only reading the messages, you are applying them to your lives. God is so amazing. So I want to thank you. This brings me so much joy. I don’t know if you remember, but I wrote a blog back in April, titled JOY and where to find it. You can read it here if you missed it. Joy seems to not be so elusive for me these days and I am grateful for that. I am actually noticing things that I didn’t have time to notice before.
One thing I’ve noticed is writing this blog brings me joy. Hearing from you brings me joy. When I first started writing the blog, I was way out of my comfort zone and didn’t think I had anything worth sharing. I dreaded writing the blog. Then something happened, almost overnight. Now I love it! Isn’t that funny, how something I once dreaded now brings me so much joy? I think that’s God. God has a way of transforming us into something new. Isaiah 43:19 says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” For so long, I did not perceive the new thing God was doing in me.
The other day, my husband came in after mowing the yard and said the cherry tree was loaded with ripe, red cherries. We didn’t plant this tree. It was here when we bought the place. Me, my husband and our 13 year old son, grabbed some bowls and headed for the tree. 
We picked and picked and picked those cherries. Being out there together brought me so much joy. Afterwards, I came in and for an hour, I pitted all those cherries. I ended up freezing 6 cups. Apparently this is a lot of cherries my mom says. It should be enough for a pie and a couple of cobblers. Baking brings me a great amount of joy. Giving it away brings me even more joy.
So what brings you joy? This week, pay attention to what brings you joy. And don’t shy away from those things that push you out of your comfort zone. Surprisingly enough, those might be the very things that bring you the most joy.
Dear Lord, help us to slow down enough to notice what brings us joy. Help us to see the new thing that you are doing in our lives. Thank you for your love, your peace and your joy that is always here, whether we notice it or not. In Jesus name, Amen. -M
6 thoughts on “Find JOY in the Journey”
Thank you Melissa for encouraging me today to slow down so that I can find the joy in my everyday life!
Love & hugs,
Melanie 🙂
Melanie – I’m glad this was an encouragement to you. I have to remind myself daily. I hope today is a joy-filled day for you. Sometimes we just have to find it. #livelove -M
Melissa, in the toughest time of my life, I stumbled on Isaiah 43:19 over and over. Those prophetic words kept me looking beyond myself into a place I had not seen or imagined. It gave substance to the things I hoped for and was evidence of the things I had not seen. Sometimes now, “Joy” is pressing the “send” key when I respond to correspondence from a friend in China, or a neighbor across the street. Most often it is the unexpected chipmunk chase or bluebird sighting. Joy to me is digging in the ground and watching it grow. God continues to bless me with the simple things that confound my own wisdom.
Shan, thank you. Your words will preach. That is indeed our faith, ‘substance of things hoped for and evidence of the thing I had not seen.” I find joy in the birds chirping as well. I also find joy in unexpected things like classical music and playing checkers with my son. Trees bring me a lot of joy. The bigger the better. I marvel at them. I love trees. I used to not even notice them and I never even heard the birds singing. Isn’t that funny and sad all at the same time? I also find joy in reading your comments. Thanks for that. -M
Everyday joy for me is especially special on quiet early mornings on my deck with a cup of coffee in my precious space in this universe, surrounded by nature’s sights and sounds…refreshes my spirit.
Me too. -M