Good Morning Girls!  Yesterday I told you all that I realized the biggest distraction in my life is me.  Me trying to figure everything out.  Me trying to do "the right thing" all the time.  Me trying to be perfect.  Me panicking and grasping for a solution whenever I don't feel quite "right".  I finally had permission to acknowledge and feel tired.  That alone lifted a heavy burden off of me.  However, there is still the issue of the fatigue and tiredness.  I mean, I fully anticipate things moving at warped speed for the next couple of weeks.  Even though it's okay to feel tired, it still can be.......well.......exhausting!  So what am I going to do about it?
I am going to do what I have done for years.  I am going to do the one thing I have control over.  I am going to do the one thing that I somehow let slip away without realizing it.  I am going to do the thing I preach to my kids daily.  I am going to...........CHOOSE JOY!  That's right.  I am choosing joy.  It sounds so simple.  Simple- yes.  Easy- no.  There are definitely days when you have to determine to choose joy.  You need to dig your heels in and say "Whatever happens today, whatever the enemy tries to steal from me, the one thing he CAN NOT have is my joy!".  After all, when it's all said and done, that's really all he wants.  He could care less about your house, about your car, about your kids, about your job, about your goals.  What he wants is your joy.  He knows that once he has your joy, he has your light.  Once your light is down to barely a flicker, you are no longer a threat.  Your resolve is weakened.  Your thriving turns to barely surviving.  You spend your prayer time begging for a life vest instead of exercising your power.  You lose your influence.  You give up on yourself.  You slowly even give up on God.  You may still love Him and believe in His power, you just don't believe it will be used in your life.  Yes Girls, when the devil has your joy, he's got the one thing that sets us apart from the world.  The world is full of unemployed husbands, and people in foreclosure.  It is full of challenging marriages, and troubled teens.  Our circumstances often appear the same as the world we are surrounded by.  The thing that sets us apart is our joy.  It is us getting up each morning putting a smile on our face and saying "Thank you Lord!  Thank you for all you have done!  I am thrilled about the things you have for me today!"
So Monday afternoon when I realized the thing I had to change was my attitude, I did the one thing that I knew to change it.  I started to sing.  I started singing "I'm trading my sorrows....I'm trading my pain"......you know the song.  By the time I got to the "Yes Lord. Yes Lord. Yes, Yes, Lord" part, my kids were following me around like the Pied Piper!  They love that song.  Next thing you know, we've cleaned all the bathrooms including my shower (yuck!).  Sound like fun to you?  Probably not.  And if it were written on my to do list, and I thought about it all day, there is no way that at 3:30 on a beautiful Monday afternoon I would have looked forward to doing such a thing.  But a funny thing happens when you sing to the Lord- you simply feel thrilled by all the things He's done for you!  When I started singing I had no intention of cleaning my bathrooms.  However, the Lord knew that my house being a mess was bringing me down. (I cannot function in a mess)  When I started to sing to the Lord He simply moved and inspired me to clean them.  The kids and I had a great time- and I didn't even say one self-pity comment about how I hate having to do all of the cleaning.  Nope- I was thrilled.  I was especially thrilled when I was done.  It allowed me to relax feeling like a little of the mess had been removed- both in my house, and in my heart!  Then I was able to go sit on the deck and get in the Word- which is the other easiest way to get your joy on!  After all, reading promise after promise kinds of gets you thinking....."hey- this good stuff here- these victories- these triumphs- these miracles- they are written here for.......ME!" Once you feel that, the devil may as well pack his bags and move on.  At that point he is messing with the wrong Girl!  I picture the devil picking up his bag of tricks turning around all ticked off saying "Crap, Jen got her joy back.  Just when I was about to sink her. I'm wasting my time here now.  Time to go find some other worn out Christian in the middle of a pity party."  Hey Girls.....don't let him be talking about you!

Psalm 92:4 You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!  I sing for joy because of what you have done!

Love you all-
Jen