Happiness or Joy

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

What is the difference in happiness and joy? ~ Happiness comes when circumstances are good and joy can come in good and difficult circumstances.  It is God who gives us joy even in the midst of something difficult. 

How often have I heard someone say, "I just want to be happy!" They begin to pursue what they believe will make them happy but most of the time pleasure seeking in the wrong places.  Some pursue sports, hobbies, traveling, dancing, shopping, home improvements, wealth, status, alcohol, food and drugs. These will fail except for a brief moment!

We cannot find true joy just by seeking pleasurable excitement. The best and longest sustained joys come from pursuing things God's way and His working in our life.

Jesus slept in the boat during a terrible storm. 

We need to learn how to sleep in the storms too. 

God wants us to let Him take control during our storms of life!

This picture I took of my sons youngest daughter at a festival November 
2012 as she watched her sister and cousins riding the swings.

Taking Pictures of Life!

Written in 2022:

There is nothing in this world that I enjoy more than taking a picture of something or someone. The pictures that I take now or have taken many years ago encourage me in my daily life. They were all taken at different phases of my life that I am so thankful for and all good memories. I love looking back at the good times and I look forward to the good times ahead. No matter what time in my life that I look back on my pictures I remember more the joy of that time than the difficult circumstances because of those pictures.

We don't take pictures of the ugly or the mess of life but instead of the moments we want to cherish forever. The pictures we take are wonderful reminders of the joyful times. When I look at pictures of my kids when I was a single parent and all their smiles and our celebrations together, it makes my heart smile. We struggled then financially and emotionally but we still had fun too! The things we did together then are priceless memories that I love to reflect on again and again.

My pictures are a constant reminder of the joy then and the joy now! I thank God for my dad who recorded my entire childhood to remind me of the good family times we all had together. I am also thankful to be able to take pictures of my own kids and grandkids to cherish all our memories together. Most of all I am thankful to God that as I grow older I have become more forgetful of the less than joyful moments of life!

Psalm 30:5b Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.

 This is one of my grand~girls popping bubbles on Easter 2014.

Listening

 ... a man of understanding holds his tongue. Proverbs 11:12b

Do I take time to listen? In my own life I look back and wish I had been listening more and talking less. I wish those who misunderstood me listened and heard what I was saying instead of what they thought they heard.  For me personally, talking has gotten me more in trouble than listening ever could. 

I took this picture of a Halloween Pennant Dragonfly while we were watching the sunset across the water in front of our camper.