Journey of Joy

We do all need more joy. It is one of the things we overlook too often. We focus on work and production and the numbers, and believe me, as a trained mathematician, I know how much we love to make the numbers look good! We want to cultivate our personas and our followings, we want to do good in the world, but none of these things happen without the foundation of joy underneath to keep going. God created us for joy. God didn't create us as problem-creating and problem-solving machines defined by our numbers. We are creations of immense joy, love, and grace. 

One of the things I have been struggling with during my sabbatical time has been reclaiming my joy. I have finally come to terms with the fact that my joy dried up in the last two years. Even before the pandemic, a few work based events happened which totally sucked the oxygen out of me, keeping my light small and dim. While I was excited and joyful about getting married and that saved my creativity for continuing ministry through the pandemic, I had stuck my dried up joy on the back burner and left it there. As I have been trying to come to terms with the large transition of getting a new job in a new town and moving my husband away from the only county in the country he has ever lived, (!) I realized I took the new job (you'll hear more about it soon!) simply because it sounded Fun. Joyful. Creative. And God knows, quite literally, I need that. 

So, as I take my dried up joy off the back burner and figure out how to rehydrate it, I can say,

The Lightmaker's Manifesto has been so helpful for me during this time to remember my need for joy and the strong foundation it gives me. 

Thank you.