Choose joy

Choose joy

Everywhere you look you see shirts that say “choose joy” - even though it sounds a little cliché, we can in fact choose our attitude daily!

Romans 15:13 says

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

I try to teach my kids that we can’t change anything around us or change other people’s attitudes but we can always choose our words and our actions.

In a world filled with evil and darkness, we have an important job to create discussions and moments to ring light and hope.

The best thing we can do as parents, is to train the future generation on how to make good decisions, choose their attitude and weigh their words!

Romans 12:12 reminds us

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.”

We do a lot of board games in the house, one of the board games that we like to play frequently is chess. Each move is thawed out before proceeding. I like to give the analogy of our words and our actions is the same way. In a world with reactions- anger and violence- we need to coach and train about how we can think through and visualize what we do before we do it.

Choosing joy and life-giving actions is definitely a muscle we must exercise and train. This is why our job as parents and leaders is so vital!

Philippians 4:4 says

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.”

Ask yourself, how are you choosing joy today? How are you choosing your words today?

How can you make time in your busy schedule to train and teach someone else on how to do so?

Godly Success affirmations for women

Never be afraid of failure- be afraid of staying in the same place.

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline”.- 2 Timothy 1:7

Consistency is the name of the game- little changes Over -little goals added up turns into bigger milestones met.

It’s about waking up every single day putting in the work and staying focused no matter what.

Colossians 3:1–4 contains much that can help us stay focused on Christ: “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Everything has a season, some days you feel on top of the world, other days you feel like giving up. This is completely normal!

“For everything there is a season.” Ecclesiastes 3:11

Don’t give up!

“Galatians 6:9 reminds us: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Change up the pace, take a walk, seek solitude, recharge and refuel- you might have to change direction but never stop.

Pause, rethink and take breaks often and don’t worry about the monster of productivity. He will consume your heart and soul.

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28 CSB”

Set timers to stay focused daily and what you can accomplish during that time is all you got done.

Schedule play, just like you schedule anything else. Even if you don’t feel like it, even if you feel like you’re not getting your work done- or the guilt that it would take away from your goals.

But little respites throughout the day is an internationally accepted practice in many countries, where they are more fulfilled emotionally and have more meaningful relationships. Some countries you get paid double to take vacations because they know how productive and grounded you will be when you return.

Take mini vacations daily, even if it’s a 10 minute quiet in the car before a crazy day, even if it’s enjoying your cup of hot coffee in the morning in quiet.

Your work and your monetary wealth does not determine your value. You are an artist and a creative whether or not other people think so. Your follower account doesn’t determine your value. Your amount of checklist that you fulfill today does not determine your value.

Hebrew’s 4:9 “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

Cuddling with a sick child might not pass on a résumé, but that child will have memories and attachments that were last their entire life. Just because most of the work that you do is unseen, does not mean it’s not valuable and not needed in this world.

What does the Bible say about success?

“What does the Lord your God require from you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul?” (Deuteronomy 10:12)

So if you are putting God first, resting, using your talents and gifts for the purpose of the Kingdom- then you are a success!

If you must, print out these affirmations and save them to yourself daily so that you can be reminded of your value, your worth and how much your love changes this broken world!

The wake set before you.

I was able to go jet skiing this spring and it was a little terrifying- you’re flying over a coral reef that has 1 foot clearance until you might hit a sandbar at 80 miles an hour. You’re out in the middle of the open ocean in the Caribbean. All you have in front of you are some bubbles of the next rider’s wake. You know you have to stay 100m behind, but you don’t want to crash out and immediately hit water 80 miles an hour and have to crawl back on your JetSki. So you live in this very scary line of fear of not getting lost, but having to follow the path of the leader.

Without following their wake, I could be in danger of running aground, hitting coral and flying off-causing injury, jet ski replacement fees or even death!

Fortunately, there was a lifeguard bringing up the rear in the line- to make sure that no one got lost - or to direct the back of the line.

I knew as long as I stayed within eyesight of the lifeguard- that I would be safe. They kept giving me hand signals to stay the course and keep focused on the wake of bubbles before me.

Let’s just say that I prayed more on that jet ski than I did all week!

And the Holy Spirit reminded me of another life lesson- we must follow the path marked out for us- Hebrews 12:1

NLT‬‬

Without following our Leader- our Pioneer- Jesus-that paved the way before us- we could run aground as well- crashing into cycles of anxiety, fear, addiction and loss of joy or life.

So we live in this narrow window- of not getting distracted by everything around us- staying focused on the “Author and Finisher” of our faith.

The Holy Spirit- our real-life- lifeguard- is our “rear guard” keeping us motivated and assured of our purpose- giving us little signals to keep going (Isaiah 52:12) - turn left and stay the course.

Have you felt “off-course?” Let the Holy Spirt get you back to to the place that you can see the path set before you.