Be Joy!😃

“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭17‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today I went grocery shopping. Mundane task that seems simple enough but for me it is exhausting and anything but mundane. And yet, I absolutely love grocery shopping! Today I spent time praying while I was driving to my first stop (to fill up the gas tank). I was praying I would be open to anything the Lord brought my way. And I was praying I would recognize any blessings or spiritual battles.

My shopping day was uneventful - there were a few really big smiles that came my way from other shoppers (which I returned of course) but nothing worthy of mentioning in a blog post. 😉 I DID bring a stack of gospel tracts with me and placed them in several shelves throughout the store. 😁

After stopping for fuel and going making 3 different stops, I got home and put my groceries away. I didn’t have time for lunch before I had to leave to pick up my son from school (early release today). He took his shower and did his chores and then I left to pick up my daughter. After I got home with her I had to get my son to his counseling appointment. My daughter stayed home to do her chores (bless her for being responsible to do the cleaning while I was gone). I stayed in the car while my son went in to talk to his counselor. I was so tired! I really wanted to take a nap in the car but I didn’t want to be sleeping when the session was over so I toughed it out.

On our way home traffic was horrible and there was a lot of construction on our route. I stopped to let someone turn from a side street and enter traffic in front of me. And there it was! The woman driving that car smiled so big and waved so aggressively in thanks to me that it made me smile and wave aggressively back and as she merged in, I got a good look at her license plate. It was a custom license plate that said BE JOY. I drew my son’s attention to it and he got a big smile on his face too. That driver, smiling and waving like crazy to me was being and spreading joy.

We have so many reasons to be joyful and it’s really important to SHOW that joy outwardly. It’s contagious and it’s exactly what our hurting world needs.

I want to be joy, show joy, spread joy and share my joy in the Lord.

An old Sunday school song keeps repeating in my head this evening: “The joy of the Lord is my strength”. By the time I had that encounter with the joyful driver, I was depleted of strength and energy. Her joy and her license plate reminded me where my strength comes from and how much I needed to call on the Lord for strength to get through the rest of the evening. I felt a big boost in my energy level after that and was able to get dinner on the table, lunches packed, etc. without the energy crash that often comes after a long, busy day.

One person can make a difference in the life of a perfect stranger. Be joy - be that person who lifts the spirits of those around you!