Advent Word of the Day - Joy

“Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalm 30:5

Nope. Not this morning. Not happening. There was no joy.
 
First, it is the day of the week I have to go to work at 8AM. I love my job, but not at 8AM. I should still be in bed doom scrolling at 8AM.

Second, I don’t like any of my clothes. On another day I would look fine, but today I put on earrings and a scarf with flannel and it looked like I tried to put lipstick on a pig.

Third, my hair. I need a haircut, but in order to do that I have to make an appointment, but in order to do that I have to make a phone call, but in order to do that I have to talk to someone on the phone and well, it just isn’t happening for me right now.

Joy was hard to come by today and so I had to go looking for it (which is why I am posting this at night when I usually post it in the morning – I schedule it to post, I don’t get up before 8AM unless I have to).

It is a good thing that I work at a library because you can find anything at the library. I typed “joy” into the search engine and found 11,325 entries for the word joy. Some of those were from other libraries and some were names so I narrowed my search and found that joy that was hidden all around my library.

I started in the kid’s section where I work and I found the joy of far-away friendship and the joy of shared time with family. A monster who likes cookies brought me the most joy.

There was a movie titled “Joy,” but I think it’s the character’s name and I’m not sure I will like it, but I checked it out anyway. Yo-yo Ma got together with some friends to make a holiday CD titled “Songs of Joy and Peace.” I listened to it when I got home and started to feel some of the joy I’ve was looking for.

“The Joy of Painting” reminded me how much I like to paint and how I enjoy watching Bob Ross with his happy little trees and mighty fan brush. “The Book of Joy” reminded me how much I appreciate the witness and the words of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. “Wild Things: The Joy of Reading Children’s Literature as an Adult” reminded me why I sought out this (8AM!) job in the first place. I have a large collection of children’s books, many of them I bought before I had children. There is beauty and poetry and life lessons and laughter to be gained by spending some time in a picture book.

Some people (my husband) find joy like Marie Kondo, through organizing and tidying up. They find joy in the ordinary task of laundry (seriously, there is a whole book about the art of laundry). They find joy in living simply and removing the clutter around them.

Other people (like myself) find joy surrounded by piles of "stuff" (I left out the swear for the church blog. You can use skubala if you prefer the biblical term). This is not literal or unsanitary or unsafe. It is finding joy surrounded by beautiful treasures and memories represented by material objects. (Ok there is some useless "stuff" mixed in. How many broken pencils and dried up pens do I really need? But the pen is shaped like Captain Underpants so you see my dilemma right?)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8
 
I needed some silly fun today and I found it by going on a treasure hunt for joy around my library, checking out all of the joy things, and coming home to make a ridiculous video (on Facebook and TikTok). I couldn’t just sit at my desk and wait for joy to find me (especially at 8AM). I had to go looking for it today.
And the door was opened wide.

Be blessed!