2014

The year I awoke to pain and loss.

The year I pledged to discover the real meaning of joy.

I've found it!

It sits with me in the pew, at the table for one, beside a good man's grave.

It fills me in a house full of family and friends. 

Joy guides me through confusion and chaos, ordering my life.

JOY

Gratitude precedes it.

It's found in a manger and on a cross.

JESUS

He's the author of joy; He is my JOY.

I've grasped for it in the dark places; I've reluctantly let go of both treasure and rubbish to fully experience it. 

It spills with tears, laughter and hard questions.

JOY

is not a marketing "feel-good" strategy based on emotion.

It's truth that God has a better plan than I ever will, that I'm deeply loved by the Creator of the Universe, that the end may not be in sight, but will be perfect in all ways.

JOY

is a quiet confidence, a known, a peace.

Can I spread it like cheer or  

 catch it like happiness?

I don't know.

Often, I hold on to it with my dear life; sometimes, I feel it slipping from my soul!

JOY 

 will continue to be my constant, conscious choice in the new year.