If you have ever been in my house or seen a picture of my house, you know how much I love signs with sayings. I am surrounded by them in every room. Honestly the only room in my house that doesn't have a saying is the bathroom. And that is only because I don't have any shelves or places for them in my bathroom. However, my most favorite sign in my whole house is the one in my kitchen... it says... Choose Joy!
In my other home it was the first and last thing you saw in my house and that wasn't by chance. I put it in that place because of its importance to my daily walk. I needed to be reminded that each day I have to make a choice and joy is not determined by situation but by choice.
I work with people every day and as the title of the department I work in states... I am a resource for humans. Get it... Human Resources. I know bad joke but it is all true. During some annual HR training we were told that the day we decide we don't want to be a resource is the day we must get out of Human Resources (HR). Dealing with people, issues, and problems is the name of the game. And while I love the new marriages, babies, and promotions I get to be apart of I still need to deal with the performance issues, the terminations, and the phone calls to let someone know they didn't get the job. It is a choice to find joy in the mist of a life full of people.
But I don't share this with you to complain about my job as I love what I do. However, my purpose for writing about this is to remind you that we make a choice every day, hour, and some times minute of how we are going to live. Whether the situation we find ourselves in will steal our joy or continue to let us walk in that joy. I don't get to stay in a place of rainbows and butterflies every day and every moment of that day. I have to make a choice.
I'd love to be a person who tells you that, that sign helps me in my moments of questioning. I'd love to tell you that I am the most optimistic person around. I'd even love to tell you that I have grown to have alligator skin that allows for things to not puncture my heart. What I can tell you is this... I am a human in need of resources and while I don't always have all the resources. I need a sign in my house to tell me to choose joy. I have a reminder to tell myself to inspire others. I have a sign that tells me to learn to dance in the storm. I even have a sign in my house to tell me to have faith. I need reminders.
So today while you find yourself imperfect in a world looking for perfection. Remember that you are a creation that came from the mighty hands of God. You're an imperfect person with the need of a savior and while others seem to want to remind you of your limitations. Remember that you have a choice. You have a choice whether you'll walk in joy. Why? Because joy is a fruit of the spirit. It is something that God desires to give to you, but you have to allow for him to grow in you. You have to make a choice to allow for JOY to bloom. You have to make a choice to allow resources to become evident.
