Joyful, Joyful

108/365

It’s official: my favorite movie of all time is Father of the Bride. My husband and I had the opportunity to watch it last weekend and it really just sunk in how much I love it. I mean, honestly, what’s not to like? The family is beautiful, the house is stunning and the flawless wedding has inspired nuptials to this day. The solitary crisis to hit Annie Banks was her adoringly cute fiancé purchasing her a blender for their anniversary because she liked to make cappuccinos! Well, let me be the first to bless her poor little providential heart. (By the way, if she wants to come crying to someone about that gesture, tell her she can find the rest of us standing in a ten minute line at Starbucks to spend $3.50 on the Pumpkin Spiced Latte that only comes out at Thanksgiving.)

Needless to say, thanks to this movie and many like it, imagine the surprise of most adolescent women in our culture when our lives at 22 don’t include international travel, prosperous fiancés and a Frank Sinatra soundtrack. Weird.

What do we do when our lives don’t mirror the movies and when our responsibilities seem to outweigh our joys? Do we give up all together? Do we just live in our despondency until it no longer matters? Or, do we adjust the source of our joy?

John 15:11
“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” – NIV

We all have different sources of joy and many of us have multiple sources and consider this a blessing. While it is wonderful to have so many areas of life to find happiness in, there can only be one primary resource: The joy of our Lord.
Once we recognize what ecstasy awaits us in God’s plan, we find serenity in waiting to see what the Great Provider has in store for us. And as we wait, we are learning to let the process be a voluntary one.

If God is not the number one spot in our “supply-store”, while things might seem great, we are missing the greatest joy of all and not even knowing it.