Many people think that joy and happiness are synonymous. In my humble opinion they are not. Many think that in order to know joy, they must know happiness. I would disagree. Here's why:
Happiness is a feeling. And it is a fleeting feeling at that. We can change our emotions (feelings) a hundred times a day based on circumstances. The car that swerves into you lane might make you fearful. The person who speaks rudely to you in line might make you angry. Passing an accident on the road might make you sad. And the list goes on. We can't feel more than one feeling at a time and they ebb and flow ALL DAY LONG.
But JOY, is another story. Joy can be a state of mind. I can be an attitude. Because even while you are going through those one hundred emotions a day, you can still feel joy in your heart and soul. How?, you might ask.
GOD! A relationship with God can bring you internal joy every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year. Joy comes from knowing God. It comes from knowing that all things are possible through Him. I comes from that deep down belief and faith that He will always get you through whatever is going on in your life (good, bad, happy, sad).
We live in a world that is desperately trying to push God out. Today, you can find Him. All you have to do is ask and be willing to let Him in. Then all the things that you see in this group that look hard, daunting, scary and maybe impossible will be small, easy, worth it and bring you joy. You get to choose.
The picture above is a picture of my mom and I. She is suffering from late stage Alzheimer's disease. She doesn't really know who I am anymore and this picture is actually 8 months ago when she wasn't as bad as she is now. But even though there can be sadness around her condition, I still have joy in my heart. I get to love her in a new way, I get to learn from her mistakes in life and do better for myself so hopefully my daughter never has to see me like that. But I also get to rely on God through it all. Knowing that He is doing His work through her and through me.
That's why we're here. To do His work for you and I'm quite sure, He'll be doing lots of work through you for us.
I'm so glad you're here. This is going to be such an experience. One like I've never had and I can't wait to get started.
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