CHOOSE JOY!!!

In yesterday's blog I mentioned that the remainder of this week I would post some of the things that God laid upon our hearts at the "EnJOY the Journey" Ladies' Conference at Rothwell Baptist Church in Pooler.  One of the recurring themes of the weekend was that JOY is a CHOICE!  WHAT????  A CHOICE???
Yep!  Keep in mind that JOY is not the same as happiness.  We might not always be happy about our circumstances but we can CHOOSE JOY because of our relationship in Christ!

I told the story of our three year old granddaughter, Naomi, coming to spend a couple of days with us.  When it came naptime, it took her FOREVER to calm down long enough to fall asleep.  She was so excited to be a GiGi and Papa's that she was "wound tight".  As she laid in her bed, she talked to the stuffed animals, the dolls, the pictures on the wall, imaginary friends......she talked and talked and talked!  I finally opened the door and said, "Naomi, you've got to stop talking and take a nap!"

I closed the door, expecting to hear a little sniffle or even a loud cry.....but instead........she was obedient!  She stopped talking......AND STARTED SINGING at the top of her lungs: "I'VE GOT THE JOY, JOY, JOY, JOY down in my heart, down in my heart toooooooo staaaaaaaaay!"   NAOMI CHOSE JOY!  She was determined to not let anything steal her joy that day---not naptime, not GiGi, not hurt feelings!

What about you and me?  Are we just as determined to not let ANYTHING steal our JOY?  If we have Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, then we have every reason to remain JOYful!  We can't control our circumstances most of the time, but we CAN control how we react to those circumstances.  Let's determine to always CHOOSE JOY.....so that Jesus can produce some delicious JOY JUICE in our lives!!!  A double portion of JOY---enough to share with all those He brings into our path today, tomorrow, and all the days to come!