Dec
11
2017

The Joyful Contagion

Posted in Daily Living | 6 Comments

My church has a bookstore.
Wonderful titles line the shelves.
Books that spur us on in our faith journey.
Books that help us in our devotional life.

Anything that is not seen on the shelves can be ordered.
I have shopped quite a bit in the bookstore during this Christmas season.
The bookstore has a library feel to it.
It beckons you to read; the choices of books are good and true and pure and noble.

As I was purchasing two books, I saw a young mom that has been in my home.
She had her fifth child some months ago.
Kindred spirits, she and I.
We talk about so many things since I am beyond the stage she is in right now.

She had three daughters and then a son.
Her fifth child was another girl.
That sweet little one was in her mother’s arms in a red velvet Christmas dress.
I look in the faces of these children; they all resemble each other.

I told this young mom that I thought her little one looked like her third daughter.
You think so? She asked me.
Her looks seem to change and it is hard to tell which one she looks like, she continued.
Her other three daughters came in the bookstore to find their mom.

Hugs were shared all around.
I counted heads just like I used to do with my own children.
Where’s your brother? I asked, not seeing her son.
I hope he’s with his dad, the young mom said, knowing that is exactly where he would be.

The dad was outside the bookstore talking to someone.
Their son was close by.
It warms my heart when I see all of the children who have been in my home.
They are all special to me; they each have favorite things to play with when they are here.

One precious little boy comes to Bible study with his mom.
He loves my clocks.
He will come upstairs after Bible study and stand in front of my grandfather’s clock.
He watches the pendulum swing back and forth; he waits for the clock to chime.

He will take my hand and walk to my fireplace where he likes to point to the mantle clock.
He simply loves clocks of all kinds.
Last Bible study, he noticed something on my Hoosier cabinet that he thought was a clock.
That is a scale, I told him; Would you like to make it move?

He liked that he could press down on the scale.
He was thrilled that he could make the needle move with his own hand.
He talked about the scale when I saw him in his mother’s arms.
I reminded him that he will be in my house this week and can see all those things again.

As I was leaving church, I saw another little girl who has been here with her mom.
She was in her grandmother’s arms.
I said hello to her with a big smile.
Can I have a hug? I asked.

She leaned towards me and gave me a hug.
My heart was filled to overflowing.
These sweet young moms and their precious children are very special to me.
Isn’t that what being part of a church body is all about?

We are family.
We care about one another.
We carry each other’s burdens.
We pray for each other.

We watch the children grow.
We invest in each other’s lives.
We encourage each other.
We support each other.

My heart was filled to overflowing.
All of us are bound together because of the Lord Jesus.
We are not perfect.
We all have our flaws and our quirks.

Despite that, or maybe because of that, we love each other.
We may not always agree but we continue to love.
That’s what families do.
Families are in this together.

I left church knowing that my husband was waiting for me in the car.
He knows that I linger and talk to people.
So he patiently waits for me after church.
I walked down the hill towards where our car was parked.

I saw the little boy, the brother of four sisters.
He was joyfully stomping in the new snow that had fallen the day before.
He was stomping and making footprints with childlike abandon.
He was having so much fun in this small area of grass near their parked car.

I said, Hi, and he answered with a jubilant, Hi, in return.
You cannot stomp in the snow and not be joyful.
I wish I could do that, I said and his mother and father laughed.
I really wished I could.

He did not have a care in the world.
There was snow on the ground and it called to him.
That snow was asking to be jumped in and stomped on.
That snow needed a set of footprints to let others know that someone was there.

The joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)

I encountered all those children at church.
It is not possible to be in the presence of a child and not be filled with joy.
I pray that all the children who come through my home will catch my joy.
I pray that all who come in contact with me catch the joy that is mine because of Him.

A friend asked a simple question on social media.
What’s the best one-line rule for effective living that you’ve ever heard? [And chose to follow]
I knew right away what I would say.
I typed the comment immediately.

Choose JOY!

Joy is stomping through the snow and making footprints.
Joy is standing in front of clocks and waiting for them to chime.
Joy is leaning way over to give someone a hug.
Joy is contagious.

Joy is so desperately needed in our world today.
It may be up to us to spread the contagion.
It may be up to us to help people catch the joy that is ours.
It is not experiential joy, rather it is JOY in Christ.

We can intentionally choose joy even when our circumstances tell us otherwise.
Joy is not about circumstances.
Joy is about abiding in Him, the Giver of joy.
Joy is about knowing that we are loved by a Holy God.

Joy is knowing that we were bought back by our sinless, spotless Lamb.
Joy is knowing that believing in Him and His finished work on our behalf, gives us eternal life.
Joy is knowing that we have an Advocate, Savior, Redeemer and Friend in the Lord Jesus.
Joy is a choice as we are in the midst of things that seek to rob us of our joy.

I carried the sight of that precious little boy stomping in the snow in my heart all the way home.
In Christ, there is joy even if circumstances tell us the joy should not be there.
In Christ, there is joyful abandon that others will undeniably see in us.
In Christ, we have the joyful contagion that will become an epidemic to a joyless world.

Joy to the world, the Lord has come.

 

Whispers of His Movement and Whispers in Verse books are now available in paperback and e-book!

http://www.whispersofhismovement.com/book/

6 responses to “The Joyful Contagion”

  1. Tim just asked me yesterday how he could pray for me, and I asked him to pray I would have joy and be thankful for life and the season we are in…and today your blog! God has given me abundant reasons to give thanks and choose joy- many of them right in front of me constantly 😉

    • Amy,
      Isn’t it wonderful that God’s timing is perfect? Isn’t it wonderful that He uses everything to draw us closer to Him? A simple blog post and your prayers were about the same thing. I love when God does that for our good and His glory. God has blessed you with your wonderful husband and your beautiful children. God is good.
      Gina

  2. Gina, I fondly remember being in your home and sharing your joy! Our son, Peter, loved clocks as a child – this story touched my heart in so many ways. Thank you for your encouragement and joy in Jesus that you share with all those around you!

    • Elisha,
      We all can encourage each other when it comes to finding JOY! The world focuses on happiness. Happiness is fleeting because it is based on circumstances. JOY comes from deep within us despite our circumstances. Joy comes from Christ alone.
      Gina

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