JOY TODAY

Monday’s—bleh. Cleaning bathrooms—hate it. Grocery shopping—not exactly my idea of a good time. Now, you may be thinking, “Hey, I actually like grocery shopping and Monday is the day I love to clean my bathrooms!” Okay, that’s wonderful and I’m happy for you, but these are things I find challenging to approach with joy. Yes, I’m thankful for every day. Yes, I love cleanliness—believe me I do, just ask my family and friends! Yes, I’m extremely appreciative of the fact that here in USA we have an abundance of food at our fingertips and I can go stroll into the grocery store any time I want and purchase whatever my little heart desires. But each of us has at least one thing (maybe even more??) we may find challenging to do let alone approach with any amount of joy.

What is it for you? Board meetings? Screaming babies at two a.m. and you just need some sleep already? Facing that mountain of laundry that never seems to get any smaller after an exhausting week at work? Whatever it is for you, know you’re not alone in the struggle to manage the every-day, same-old, hum-drum with joy or even a semblance of it.

We all love to have fun. Fun is after all, well, fun! The vacation, the concert, the celebration, the birth of a precious baby, the (fill in the blank)—all wonderful and exciting events to be sure but we cannot stay in those high places nor can we remain in that state of euphoria no matter how much we’d like to or even try to. Sometimes we can get caught up with this idea that life is supposed to be full of amusement and adventure so driving your kids to yet another orthodontist appointment isn’t exactly the trip you’ve been dreaming of taking.

I mean, think about it—we spend the majority of our time in the normal, every day-to-day routine. Maybe sometimes tackling each day can seem difficult enough and to attempt to find any level of joy doing it can be very challenging to say the least. I mean, have you been in traffic lately?

But, if we can learn to recognize that each day is a gift, a blessing from God, we can find joy even in the hum-drum days, but we need to be intentional about it. “Teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NIV). Even if you’re unsure what you believe about God, there’s insight to be gained here. Being conscious of the fact that we’re only here on this earth for a limited time, should polish off our fogged up glasses and bring each day into clear perspective for us. And, if we allow it to teach us, we can find moments to treasure in every day. So, where can you find joy today?