Joy

Joy is a funny thing. It comes when we least expect it, even more so when we're stressed out beyond belief and ready to scream...

Tonight I saw joy in the eyes of people who had 30 some odd students and adults visit them to carol. They smiled, they laughed, they talked, they enjoyed having us visit them. Us, a motley assortment of INSANE junior high boys (I'm so going to buy shock collars for some of them next year...), great junior high girls, a bunch of fantabulous senior high leaders, and some of the best-est adult volunteers I could ever ask for. We didn't sing the prettiest for sure, and we weren't great performers, and some of the guys were just driving me nuts, but the people we sang to were genuinely happy to see us. Especially some of the people at the nursing home: they SO WANT and NEED LOVE! They ate up the students who were willing to talk to them and their faces shown with joy! It was awesome!

That's what amazes me about joy: it is not dependent upon anything we physically, emotionally, or otherwise bring to the table. Joy is solely dependent upon God. C. S. Lewis asks the question of joy: would we skip out on joy because it normally entails great sorrow? Or would we rather experience the joy and the sorrow knowing that the joy was worth the sorrow? I would say the joy (of course, my sorrow hasn't known much depth...), but I do like avoiding pain. However, if my life were devoid of the simple joys: picking up my children, hearing them laugh, playing with them, kissing my wife, music, etc., I think I would go entirely crazy. That or become seriously suicidal!

That's why God allows little things we wouldn't think of to bring about joy: real, over-flowing, oozing, incredible, joy. The smile that doesn't fade, the warm fuzzy feeling that won't subside, the way we look after the experience of joy. Those are the things that make a lot of life bearable, and those are the things we most need to share: the joy that God provides and makes life worth living. That is what the world so desperately needs: joy, love, and above all: grace....

So, spread some joy this Christmas: smile uncontrollably, sing Christmas carols in nursing homes, make little children laugh, cuddle with those you love, and never hesitate to tell the story of a baby born 2000 years ago who brings freedom, goodness, and life...

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