Cultivating Joy



A lot of things in life really suck. Being hurt by those we love sucks. Hurting those we love sucks even more. Eventually it can become this hopeless cycle of hurt people hurting people over and over again.  In the face of of all the crap and pain of life we are still called to live lives of joy in all trials. Easier said than done. Impossible without grace. Grace softens bitter hearts, and offers shameful ones a way out. The grace of Jesus makes all things new. It restores the most broken of relationships, the ones we could never fix on our own. It restores joy to the darkest places, and offers a hope we have yet to know.

 The past few weeks I've learned (or re-learned) 3 things about joy.
  1. If you go too long without a joyful spirit you will feel terrible and want to cry all the time.
  2. Jesus' Joy is bigger than the things that make me cry.
  3. Joy is found in the little, unexpected places.
Recently I stumbled into a position as a mentor in a program at my school for students my age with cognitive disabilities. I've spent the past few Friday afternoons there and it's been great. It wasn’t some big fancy event or a life changing meeting. We actually only have a meeting for about 20 minutes before spending the rest of the time playing wiffleball. I'm actually not too terrible, maybe I got some of my dad's baseball genes. The first one, a few Friday's ago was the best afternoon I’ve had in a long time, and the happiest I’ve been in a while. We played and talked and relaxed. There was no pressure to be anything but themselves and myself. My job was to simply be present. It was beautiful. Their joy was truly infectious and I’m incredibly grateful.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13
Tori Lynn

 p.s. For the next 30 days I'm committing to focusing on hope every morning and sharing on my Instagram page. @victorianatalie92 (:

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