Dear Reader:

Yesterday was a day when I had to make a decision…be disappointed in the timing of rain and freezing temps producing only a cold, wet Saturday morning for us or find things to be happy about and get on with living life.

*I was just like Eva Cate…running to the front porch and deck to see if any snowflakes were falling…nada. (And I did hear thunder rolling the other day during the earlier rainstorm…one wives’ tale says if one hears thunder in the winter…you will see snow within ten days. Didn’t work this time.)

After all Winnie the Pooh acknowledged it was a ‘blustery day’ but he found ways to love it anyway…outside and inside. I thought to myself as I pulled the covers back over me yesterday morning to the sound of rain ‘pitter-patter’ on the roof…that I was so lucky.

I had gone to the store and picked up plenty of food for the weekend, and had gotten some wood for the fireplace. I could sleep in if I wanted to and I had one of my favorite author’s books (Karen White) to read. Gloomy, cold weather or not…I had everything I needed to be content…to be happy.

So for lunch I fixed a big pot of potato and cheese soup….comfort food at its best! My all-time favorite and after eating it…suddenly everything seemed brighter…no matter how dark and dense the clouds.

I waited until late afternoon, when darkness fell, to start a fire…there is something just so comforting about a fire in the evening with the light of the flames flickering across the walls and floors. Life is good.

Later,  as I was checking my emails, my monthly blog message from Kate-Wolfe-Jensen popped up and her blog was on joy and our pivotal role in bringing it into our lives, even when we feel anything but joyful. Joy is a power that won’t be denied for long…it is sneaky and will catch you off-guard bringing its two companions… merriment and humor with it.

Fierce joy, gentle joy

Kate-Wolfe Jensen

Kind Promise:  I will live joyfully for no reason.

Every morning, before you get out of bed, remind yourself to choose joy.

Set your intention to joy in the same way that you set the thermostat in your house to 68°. “Sometimes, things may get hotter and sometimes cooler, but I will always return to joy.”

There are days, when the sun is shining and the air is full of possibility. On those days, choosing joy is easy.

There are other days, when you wake to pain or disappointment or grief. They weigh you down. Those are the days when you must choose a fierce joy. It will slice like a blade through those burdens, allowing you to drop into a pool of grace that will hold you up and carry you through.

Sometimes joy will creep up on you, poke you in the ribs and run around giggling, daring you to catch it.
“This is not an appropriate time,” you might say, if you are trying to prove you are grown-up. Be careful. Joy is easily shushed. It will pout for a second and then skip away to find someone else with whom to play.

Perhaps you will feel the gentle joy that kneads your shoulders loose and runs a delicate finger up your spine until you realize that, against all odds, you are happy. Such tender joy may sit beside you for hours at a time.

Joy cannot be bound, though. If you try to force its presence, it will slip away. Invite it to ride in on a deep breath as you awaken to your senses. Noticing you are alive is a good first step.

Let joy, in all its forms, be your companion. Let it bring you strength, open your heart and add sparkle to your day.

……………………….

So until tomorrow…I double-dog dare you to listen to Pharrell Williams’ 2013 mega-hit “HAPPY” and not get happy yourself! Come on now…click this video on and if you can sit through it without moving your feet, snapping your fingers, mouthing the words or ‘get-down’ dancing…  then you need some serious happy healing in your life! Do I see a smile coming?

Pharrell Williams – Happy (Official Music Video) – YouTube

*When I took the ornaments off my Christmas tree last Monday I saved some for year-round perusal pleasure. One of these was Honey’s perfect heart leaf. Do you remember a few weeks ago she found, not one, but two leaves with a perfectly symmetrical heart cut-out in the leaf. A human could not begin to cut such a perfect heart out of a leaf…the two leaves were miles apart but yet the same strange phenomenon occurred.

So Honey made Christmas tree ornaments from these leaves with an explanation and as a memory token for friends visiting her and Mike in the mountains. Now this is an example of a ‘gentle joy’ that stays forever in our own hearts.

• I loved Ambika’s comment on my life lesson… concerning resting and waiting on the Lord when you reach an impasse in your life where certain things are out of one’s control.
• The only thing I could think to do to help bring up my low blood count levels was to rest, eat healthy, and pray….leaving the rest up to God.  *Ambika nailed it when she wrote:
• “Yes Becky, nothing is too hard for the Lord… With God, all things are possible… We need to wait upon the Lord and be of good cheer.. He makes all things beautiful in His time!!” (Amen Ambika!)