GOT JOY? As a young mom there is definitely joy in your life – incredible smiles, random kisses, enthusiastic discovery. But sometimes these joys may be hidden in the middle of other things. However, they are there to experience. Motherhood is a journey – and it can be a JOY JOURNEY if you view it through your relationship with Christ. Joy is not dependent on our circumstances, but is a fruit of our intimacy with Jesus.

Jot Down a Verse

To help you seek out the joy in life, why not print out on a 3 x 5 card a verse that talks about joy? I put verses on my mirror and refrigerator because I need reminders to keep my focus on the eternal. I can get very caught up in the immediate!!! Reading it in the morning helps me set my sights on modeling positive reactions in the circumstances I encounter.

To Him who is able to keep you from falling,
and to present you before His Glorious Presence without fault
and with great joy – to the only God our Saviour – be glory,
majesty, power and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord
before all ages, now and forevermore.
(Jude 23:24)

Journal your Joy

To help you intentionally savor the joy, why not keep a journal/steno pad/basket with scrap paper nearby for a month or so. Seeing it will remind you to look for things that happen in your day that warm your heart. Take the time to jot them down – even sketch. Reading these notes will encourage you when struggles arise, or your children are grown or away from you. They may even help you fill out the scrapbook pages with antidotes when you get around to that pile of pictures you have been waiting to catch up on. Maybe on days when everything seems to be going wrong, you can call a "time out" and gather everyone and read some of the 'joys'. You never know, it could make smiles break through those negative moods.

Box it Up

Give each child a box. Help them decoupage it with pictures of things they like-- flowers, pictures from magazines. You can encourage them to keep birthday cards, special notes, pictures of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and pets in their joy boxes - all the things that make them smile (For more on Joy Boxes for all ages, read Treasures of Encouragement by Sharon Betters).

If Christ loves and overlooks my sin and actually presents someone like me to the Father with joy, how can I not choose to live each day of my journey on earth with JOY in my attitude? In doing this I am able to give Him the glory, and be the mom I want to be for my precious children.

God Bless You!

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