One night recently I was getting my 4 year old ready for bed, and it had been kind of a long day. I was frustrated with our homeschool day. I was stressed about work situations for my husband and myself. I was feeling discouraged about ways I had failed that day. I was tired. I was overwhelmed with decisions that needed to be made and feelings of uncertainty of what would come of those decisions.
I can be pretty good at getting past these types of negative emotions … sometimes in a healthy way; sometimes not so much. When I get past them by pushing it all down and bottling it up so I don’t have to deal with them … that’s not so great. However, there are times I actually am able to overcome those feelings with peace and perspective that only comes from the Lord.
This night was one of those nights that I thought I was hiding it pretty well. (Notice I said hiding…not really the healthy way). But my compassionate little boy could tell that I was down.
Now, he speaks very clearly for a 4 year old, and I can almost always understand what he is saying; but I couldn’t understand at first what he was telling me at that moment. It sounded something like “choeyup.” I asked him to repeat it, and it sounded the same the second time. So I tried to just sound out what I was hearing … “cho-ey-yup?”
“Yes!” He nods really big and smiles.
Still confused, I started to say again what I thought I was hearing, and this time, as I said it slowly I realized it sounded like … “Joy up? You mean, like cheer up?”
“Yes! Mommy, joy up!”
Oh my sweet boy who could see the worry in my eyes and hear the tiredness in my voice. I give him a huge hug. I tell him, “You know, I think I like ‘joy up’ better than ‘cheer up’!”
What a sweet reminder to think of the joy in my heart even when I don’t feel cheery.
The next morning I was still thinking about that phrase my little guy used, “joy up.” The word joy is used a lot by people, but what exactly is joy supposed to look like? What does the Bible say about joy? So I started looking up different passages in the Bible that talk about joy, a little joy journey, if you will.
You are such an excellent writer! Thank you for the reminder that we all need to stay close to God or we lose our joyfulness. You are an inspiration to many and set a beautiful example of parenting. I am enjoying your writings, grateful to Tracy for sharing them. I thank God daily for putting your Uncle Terry and his family into my life! We know with certainly that our meeting was “A God Thing”. God bless and keep you. Hugs & misses to you and your family.
Thank you so much Wanda! We love you and are so thankful for you!