Although the last decade of my life has been overflowing with goodness, joy is not a word I would immediately choose if asked to describe it. Why is that?   

Maybe it’s the hurry and fullness of life - the way that I fill it to the brim and run from one thing to the next as though I’m treading water in a culture that praises exhaustion. Perhaps it’s the smile I hide behind, with an automatic, “I’m great!” when asked how I am doing.  Is that why joy feels muted and just out of reach sometimes? 

This summer God has given our family the beautiful opportunity to step into a sabbatical season as we end our time as missionaries in Clarkston, GA and head back to serve at Alliance Church come fall. During this time, I have found old Sunday school songs bubbling up in my soul and I am realizing so many of them have to do with joy.   

Some of these songs state things like: “I've got joy, down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart….” or “I’ve got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart, where?....” 

Joy seems to be deeply rooted in us, a part of who we are. Even when we cover it up, it remains fixed to our souls. As followers of Jesus, joy is a part of us even when we don’t feel joyful.   

Often, we don’t see ourselves as we truly are. This might be precisely why we often feel like we lack joy. It’s easier to cover it up with lies about who we think we should be or the expectations the world puts on us. The enemy's lies cover our joy, but he can’t truly take it from us.   

We can begin to uncover the joy that is an immovable fixture to our soul and a part of our true identity by seeing ourselves as God does. Often, it begins by slowing and quieting the world around us as beauty, awe, and wonder begin to emerge in us once again. Our joy will leak through because it’s an immovable fixture to your souls. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that “the joy of the Lord is our strength.”   

As summer continues on in all its beauty, may you be reminded that joy is a deep part of who you are in the present, and also a heavenly reality in the future. As the old children’s song goes, may that joy become a fountain in your soul.   

Reflective Poem on Joy 

The joy of the Lord it’s there in the depth of me - a spring always bubbling like water gently tumbling forward evermoving with purpose. Life giving. Life Sustaining. 

Joy- its presence a necessity fixed and attached to my soul- sometimes pushed deep down and covered by the heaviness of life- sometimes forgotten and unfelt yet it remains. 

Emotions often cloud this joy of mine, but each is only a twist and turn towards its existence.   

Because this joy is not a creation of my own.  It is a gift from the heavenly realm.  From the Father imparted on my soul- a fixture.   

Joy is who I truly am - a gift in this life and a constant reality in the life to come.