I’m raw today, so I might as well be real.  After some hard times, I chose “joy” as my word of the year for 2023.  I was tired of feeling sad and mad and hurt, and needed to return to the joy of my salvation.  God is teaching me so much, but in this moment, I’m not feeling it.  I’m disappointed and grieving.  And if I’m honest, discontent.

 

Discontentment and joy go together like tuna fish and peanut butter.  Not at all.  But as I round the corner to my 50th birthday there is so much in my life I want to change.  Some of it is out of my control and on some things I’m trying as hard as I can.  But here I sit with broken dreams, heartache, and difficulty.  Maybe I’m having a midlife crisis.  Or maybe you can relate.

 

Knowing discontentment is not from the Lord, I decided to look for some scripture on the subject.  In 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul tells us, “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  Is Paul a showoff?  Could he relate to me at all?  That’s a dumb question.  I’m the one who can’t relate to him.  The things he went through for the sake of the gospel dwarf my modern day issues.  Being beaten, whipped, shipwrecked, imprisoned, etc.  I know God’s Word doesn’t exist to make me feel better, but I still wish this did.

 

More Scripture on My Word of the Year

 

Habakkuk wrote in 3:17-18, “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food,though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”  This sounds more like something I can relate to and learn from.  Nothing is going right.  And yet the author rejoices in God.  

 

Habakkuk was a prophet.  Did he know something about the future I don’t know?  Is that why he had joy on a no good horrible, rotten, very bad day?  No.  I have the New Testament that tells me the end of the story.  Not only is God with me no matter what is going on now, but He wins in the end.  He is God now and He will be God for all eternity.  An eternity that I will get to spend with Him in paradise.  No more tears, no more illness, no more disease.  Broken dreams, heartache or difficulty?  Nope.  No more discontent.  There is truly nothing else I need.

 

How I Feel Now About My Word of the Year

 

Do I still feel discontent right now?  Yep.  And I gave myself a couple of days to cry about it this week.  Grief is a very human emotion.  And God cares about our emotions.  So I’m not going to beat myself up about it.  I’m just going to try to turn my attention to who He is and what He promises instead of what I want.  And when I do that, my heart feels a little lighter.  And God is glorified.  That makes me joyful.  So I will be okay feeling my feelings.  But also look for ways to glorify God and rest in His promises at the same time.  That’s how I’ll actively pursue my word of the year.  It’s hard to stay down when my thoughts point up.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

Everyone congratulate and participate with Debbie W. Wilson on the launch of her book!

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
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 Now Let’s Link Up!

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The days are speeding by fast as we near graduation for my senior.  I hear that’s normal?  Suffice it to say, with all Allie has going on and Shelby doing better and getting back to some activities, we have been busier.

 

Highlights

 

When we last touched base I was preparing to host Allie’s 18th birthday party.  We ended up with about 30 kids here and it was so much fun.  Although I tried to stick to my job – stay out of the way.  And after easing Shelby back into her dayhab program, I started back to work on March 1st.  Allie had Live Weekend, which is a big event in our church’s youth department.  She looks forward to it every year.  And as a bonus, she got to help lead worship in “big church” with other members of the youth worship team.  If I could bottle the sheer joy I felt combined with the energy and vitality of the kids praising God, I would.  I think that must a little glimpse of what heaven will be like and you are all in for a treat!

 

Allie got to be a buddy for our school’s Special Olympics track meet, which she loved.  The next week she was on Spring Break.  We stayed put because she wanted to skydive with her dad for the 2nd half of her 18th birthday present.  Tattoo with mom and jumping out of a plane with dad.  I don’t know if we are cool parents or crazy parents..  We’ll just say we’re crazy cool!  The last weekend of her break she went on a mission trip to Austin with a group from our church to provide some respite for the staff of our church plant down there.  She goes every year and it’s always a highlight.

 

On the day this goes to print, we have a pre-UIL choir concert to attend.  We always look forward to hearing our song bird sing!

 

I feel like I should reiterate:  it’s been a doozy of a month, but it’s over now.

 

Entertainment

 

We went to more movies in actual theaters this month than usual.  Chuck and I had a date night to see Jesus Revolution.  If it is still playing anywhere near you, I highly recommend going to see it.  We need more movies like this made!  And what’s really exciting is that Hollywood Star Kelsey Grammer says that Jesus, through his role in this movie, has changed his life.  That’s something to celebrate!  The next weekend, Chuck, Shelby and I all went to see Creed III.  Not as good as a movie about a Jesus movement, but if you are a fan of the franchise this one won’t disappoint.  And then our whole family of 4 saw Champions together at a free screening with the Best Buddies organization.  We all looked forward to this feel good movie about a hardened coach falling in love with a group of Special Olympic athletes.  And while there were redeeming moments, I was disappointed at the crassness of the storytelling.  I thought there were some cheap laughs at the expense of those who are differently abled, and I especially didn’t like sexualizing them for comedy’s sake.

 

At home we watched the romantic comedy Your Place or Mine and Murdaugh Murders:  A Southern Scandal.  The documentary is nuts!  But getting into the documentary mood, we watched the short series on Harry and Meghan.  Such sad family dynamics.  We enjoyed season 3 of The Chosen (the episodes with Jesus healing were so powerful!) and tried out the new series The Company You Keep on ABC.

 

Wrapping Up

 

It’s over now.  Sparks out.  But as always, I love you, I thank you, and I hope April treats you well.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

I loved Barbara Harper’s The Power of God’s Word.  It is important to be reminded daily that for the believer, God’s Word is everything!  And nothing else we read or hear or think can supersede it.  Thank you, Barbara.

 

The Link Up

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate).

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LAUREN SPARKS
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

TAMMY KENNINGTON – Restoring hope. Pursuing peace.
Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

 Now Let’s Link Up!