Find Your Joy & Find Your People
“The devil wouldn’t be attacking you so hard if there wasn’t something valuable in you. Thieves don’t break into empty houses.”
People who truly know me know I am a woman of faith. I am a Christian but don’t believe I have to attend church to be in the presence of God. There have been many challenges in my life that it was my faith in God that got me through to the other side of my suffering and pain. Whether my personal scare with cancer, difficult times at work and the worst situation I faced as a parent, hearing my child may have a condition that if confirmed would only allow him to live about ten more years if he was lucky.
Recent events in my personal and work life and even the events happening in the world today has me continuing to lean into my faith and protection and guidance from God. Many argue if there is a God why does he let bad things happen. He doesn’t make bad things happen. We are given the power to choose. As a parent you can tell your child what is right and wrong to do but as children and us as children of God we do not always listen and we choose to learn our lessons the hard way.
As a child my mother always told me to stay away from the stove because it was hot and I would burn myself. I understood what she was saying but that didn’t stop me from placing my small hand directly on a red hot burner. The stove being hot for me was not a lesson I learned by my mother’s words but by the smell of burning flesh on my palms and blisters and peeling skin that resulted by me not listening.
“Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes”
During difficult times we can feel lost and anxiety creeps in and negative talk fills our head. Recently as I go through a difficult season in my life I prayed for God to guide me through these emotions I have been feeling and to help me. He brought to me two messages of JOY this week.
One was when I was scrolling TikTok and came upon the ending scene from the movie Inside Out 2 click HERE to view. Normally I would scroll right past something like that but I felt the need to watch it. The emotion Joy was talking to emotion Anxiety to let the girl Riley go so Riley could stop suffering from anxiety thoughts and bring joy back into her life. Bravo to Pixar for truly portraying what it looks like when you suffer through anxiety.
The other message of Joy was me waking up to a text message from someone I recently bonded closer with because of our faith. She sent me video of pastor Joel Osteen. “ Don’t Lose your Joy” He is a New York Times bestselling author and pastor in Houston Texas. Basically the message was that joy is connected to your strength. The more joyful you are the stronger you will be. Watching this video is how I started my day today. Thank you to my friend who sent this to me.
For anyone struggling out there I encourage you to find and do things that bring you JOY. Whether you are religious or not if you do things that bring you JOY and make you feel good and are good for you then you will find similar people with this interest and so you will FIND YOUR PEOPLE.
Finding your people is so important as none of us should go through life alone. So find your people. Find those that share your beliefs, values, interests and perspectives. Create a supportive community where you feel understood, accepted and valued. While you aim to find your people lean into your faith.
I know GOD loves me and hears my prayers because time and time again miracles have happened in my life and I have lived through things that should have destroyed me.
