God, My Father

God is so good! I knew today would be hard as I had to go do a parade in the town where my father-in-law had lived. It has only been 2 weeks since he left us for his Heavenly home. Our grief is still fresh and surprises us in the most unexpected ways. Before I left this morning, I was reading in my Bible and the overwhelming truth that  God spoke into my heart was that He is my Father. Neither my husband or I have any parents left here on this earth and sometimes that is hard. We loved them and felt incredibly blessed to have them in our lives so we truly miss them. But today as God touched me with His love once again, I didn't feel like an orphan. I once again knew a parent's love, protection, and security.  God is our Father. Today that is the joy of my heart.

Why I Am Involved In Politics

Why I am Involved in Politics

Many of my friends and family don’t understand my passion for politics. Sometimes I don’t. It takes a lot of my time, energy, and resources to be involved at the capacity I am involved. My life is very regimented and scheduled during a campaign year, and I am not even a candidate. I am a volunteer. I don’t get paid. I do it because I must.

I must do it because I am passionate about my faith, my values, and my family. I want good candidates that will become good legislators because of those same things. I want people of faith that stand with me in supporting my values. I want to make a difference for my family and I can do that at a grass roots level making policy and helping to choose good candidates. I want our liberties defended and our freedoms maintained. I want my grandchildren to grow up in a country that they can be proud of.

I must be involved because God has given me this passion and the abilities to do the job before me. I feel called to step out unafraid and to speak boldly, but in love with compassion.

I must be involved because you aren’t. At least you aren’t doing my job! You may be doing something and, for that, I am very grateful. But many do nothing but complain. We need more activists. We need people to stand up for what they believe in. Our country and our state are at a crossroads and if we don’t work at keeping our freedoms, they will be lost. Our country will be different than it has been, and not in a good way. As we become more tolerant, we excuse even the worst behavior. We no longer know what is right or wrong. We lose our foundations of faith, family and values.

I don’t want to see that happen so I am involved politically. I am a Republican because their platform is the closest to my values. I support life, marriage between a man and a woman, the right to bear arms, free press, free speech, freedom of religion, and fiscal responsibility. Though every Republican candidate may not support every one of these values, the party stands behind these principles so I stand with them.

I am involved and I hope you might consider being involved, too. Together we can make a difference. We need you. We need your help. Ask me if you want to help. I am a campaign chair and I can always use more volunteers. The other candidates could use your help, too.  We need funds as well. There is much you could do. And if we all did something, much more would get done. If nothing else, at least get out and vote. Get informed, vote your values, and make a difference in that way.  

And in the meantime, don’t look at us who are politically involved as crazy. Smile at us in the parades. Let us put a sign up. Read our letters to the editor. Be glad we are trying to make a difference. It might just be for your good. We do it because we care about people! And people are the joys of my heart!

Grief...and Joy!

Death. It is so final...for those of us left behind. It can hurt so much. Yet for a believer who dies in Christ, it is only a portal that they pass through into eternal paradise. It only takes a moment for them to pass through into their new life.

My father-in-law passed away just over a week ago and I watched him during his last moments on earth. In the afternoon of the day before, he was in pain. I sensed some fear in him, too. I kept talking to him and praying for him. I prayed that God would let him pass in peace and that He wouldn't let him die until He had made his peace with God. As the day went on, he was less agitated, had less pain. He began to rest more quietly with no distress. Even with no more pain meds, he was comfortable. I sensed God's presence. When it was his time to go, he just didn't take the next breath. He didn't fight it or struggle. He just left his earthly body behind. We cried and mourned. We will miss him, but God has healed him now and he is safe in the arms of Jesus.

He was our last parent. His leaving is the end of an era. My husband and I are the elders now and bear the cloak of responsibility once held by our parents. Whether we feel ready or not, it is time.

It is said that time heals our sorrows, but I know that is not completely true. Life goes on and you continue to live it so you no longer dwell on the pain or loss. Yet many things still trigger the loss and sadness, and there is still grief that surprises us often. But death does not win out. Christ has won the victory and we will see our loved ones again in Heaven if we trust in Jesus.That victory promise is what keeps me going and renews the joys of my heart, even while experiencing grief.

Living in Disconnect

I clicked on it yesterday - Disconnect. And something in my brain clicked, too. Although I meant to disconnect my computer from the internet, I had this instant heart check with the word. That's how I feel! I am on disconnect...

 First it was with my church. We haven't been able to attend lately so that doesn't help. We live 30 miles away. I don't have a ministry there.

Then it has been with a couple of my closest friends. It isn't anything bad between us (I don't think.) Busy-ness, family commitments, and other situations have just taken up the time we would have spent together. I realized summer is half gone and I haven't had lunch or coffee with any friends. And many of our family outings have been obligations rather than just spontaneous get-togethers.

Worse yet, I feel like I am in a spiritual desert. While I am still praying, I am not sure I am listening well. I am not reading my Bible enough. I know it so why haven't I changed the situation? I think the drink I need is just out of my reach. I am tired. I am thirsty. I am weary. But I am surviving. And I will come out of the desert. I have before and God will give me the strength to do so. I know this so I am waiting. I don't know what it will take to make me reach for the Living Water I need. I have tried. It doesn't make sense, but if you are honest, you may have felt this way yourself sometimes somewhere.

I wish the answer was as easy as  my internet connection. After I hit Disconnect, I reached out and hit Connect again. It was instant. It happened. I know God is within reach, too. I know He is there for me. I know He hears me.  I need His Spirit so I hear Him as well. One of these days I will let you know that I am Connected again, on the same frequency with my Lord. One of these days soon we will be sharing the joys of my heart once more.

A New Goal

Writing takes last place lately as my day to day life overwhelms me. I tend to do what is right before me and whatever is most urgent. I love to write. I love to think and write it out. My notebooks are full of comments, thoughts, and ideas. They just rarely make it to my computer. My daughter, Mandy, has challenged me to write at least one time a week. She intends to do it as well. We will hold each other accountable!

Instead of my notebooks piling up and bits and pieces here and there, I will try to be more consistent in getting my words in order. This is my goal, my starting point. Now I just have to take the time and do it.

All of us have something we should be doing. Our hearts yearn for us to create, to be what God has created us to be. A friend of mine paints, but not often enough... She needs to free herself to do this thing she loves. My daughter blogs and reaches an international audience with her words, when she does it! Each of us have gifts, talents, and passions given to us by God. We need to develop them and use them. It gives God  pleasure and is fullfilling to us, too, when we use those gifts.

What talent or gift should you be pursuing more actively?  Do you need to set a goal to just do it? Do you need someone to hold you accountable to do it? Join the challenge. Do something this summer every week that you enjoy and helps you to grow and become the person God created you to be. Let's have fun pursing our goals. Dream with me. Find joy in stretching yourself and you will have new joysin your heart!

Death and Life...

If you had only a short time to live, what would you do with the time you had left? Life's brevity has once again forced its way into my thoughts. Someone close to me just had a heart attack. My father-in-law has lung cancer. Someone we were friends with a long time ago had a tragic accident and died. And we are all aging... With both my parents and my mother-in-law already gone to Heaven, it doesn't seem so far away as it once did. We are all closer to death than we want to admit. We are all terminal. We just don't know when our time is.

These thoughts may seem morbid to you, but they really aren't. I am not afraid to die. But I am not ready to die in the sense that I love the life God has given me. I love my family and friends. I treasure those relationships and don't want to give them up yet. I enjoy where God has placed me. I want to serve Him and be all I can today. While I have breath and strength, I want to do His will.

So back to my first question. What would you do with your time if you only had today? Or a week? Or a month? Or a lifetime, however long or short? Does the amount make a difference?  Would you live differently if you knew when your end was coming? I am sure I would, but a part of me hopes I wouldn't change all that much. I hope I am living in the place I am supposed to be, doing what God wants and fullfilling the desires He has put in me. I hope my love for those in my life is evident. I am still working on that!

One friend bought a new truck because he thought he should enjoy what time he has left. Another person just refuses to accept the inevitable, denying what is ahead.  We are all different; we would all face the possibility of death differently.

I would want to restore a broken relationship. I want to do that now, but don't know how. I would be even more intentional in sharing the hope I have in Christ. I would write letters, call those whom I care about. I would let my friends know how important they are to me. I would tell my children and my husband how much they mean to me. I would deepen my relationship with Christ. I would...

Why not do those things now? I already know that I don't know how long on Earth I have, or you have. So shouldn't I live as if the end is near and not get all caught up in what is unimportant? In Sunday School we are talking about margin. We discussed how often the urgent takes precedence over the important. How many times do we ask others to wait while we finish a task when we could have shown them some love and consideration right then? Sometimes the moment vanishes to never come again. We have all lost those moments and have had regrets.

I want to live in the present with my eye on the future. I want to plan for what is ahead, but not miss out on what is in front of me. Want to join me in this adventure and see what joys our hearts will gather together?

Broken resolutions

I had hoped to blog consistently. It wasn't really a New Year's Resolution, more of a plan, hope and/or desire. But it hasn't happened. I think of what I want to write all the time, but things get in the way. I rarely find the time to sit and write. So many things happen that I do not have control of. But I will try again...

Are there other things that you thought would be different this year? Are there things that you hoped you would do and haven't had the time, energy, or finances to do? Is there something that has kept you from doing what you hoped to do?

 What I have learned is that I must be flexible. I recently read a book One Perfect Word by Debbie MacComber that challenges you to choose a word to focus on for the whole year. You study it, learn it from all directions, and grow from it. I thought long and hard about what my word would be if I did this and the word that came to me for right now was adaptability. I feel like I am in a place where I must continually be adapting to new situations and plans, and accept what is before me. It is so hard sometimes to plan and look forward to  things, only to have them change because of someone else. Yet I have chosen to be 'on call' for certain people in my life and when they need me, I try to be there for them. When it changes my plans, I need to go with a joyful heart that says, "I care about you."

So what does this have to do with broken resolutions? Resolutions, goals are good. We all need to put goals in front of ourselves that stretch us and force us to move beyond where we are right now. We need to do things that cause us to rely on God. Yet no resolution or goal is more important than people and relationships. So instead of beating myself up for not keeping my resolutions, I am OK with it. I have not attained all my goals... Yet... Instead I have reached for other goals, doing what God has placed in front of me for this moment. I am trying to reach out in love, letting go of my ideas of what I should be doing. I tell my daughter often, "It is only for a season." No situation lasts forever. There will be times to do other things, like writing, in the future, if God wills it! If not, I know He is writing His story on our hearts and I want to be part of that most of all. That is the true joy of my heart.

Happy New Year!

What made 2011 memorable? It was my family, friends, and all the people that have impacted my life! I am blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. They are the joys in my life!

What am I most looking forward to in 2012? I am looking forward to building more relationships with those God places in my life? I am excited to see how God will challenge and change me, teach and encourage me, and love me through it all.

I hope you will anticipate God's presence in your life just as I am. Happy New Year!

Joys from the heart!

Joyce from the heart is the name of my blog, but joys from the heart is my theme! A play on my name seems appropriate as God is teaching me to find joy in all things. Not all things inspire joy, happiness,and contentment, but God says we can be content in all things. Scripture says," The joy of the Lord is my strength."  I hope to trust God more in the coming year and to continually find the joy that He has placed in my heart. I will share the joys from my heart in Joyce from the Heart!