Forever Beloved

Faith, Love & Truth

Losing Joy

I’m going to be honest with y’all, I’ve been walking through a season in my life that has been sad. It has felt as if the joy has been drained out of my life. I can’t narrow it down to one specific reason but rather lots of little reasons combined…losing a friend, loneliness, finances, missing my Grandma, body image issues, etc. 

 
I’ve had days when tears flowed easily and I’ve felt like throwing my hands in the air and just being done. I’ve had days where I just don’t even feel like talking about it. Okay, I’ve had lots of those days. And days where I wish I could hang the “unhappy” in my closet and pick out “joy” to put on. Don’t we all wish it was that easy?

I’ve felt myself becoming withdrawn, building walls around myself and just wanting to stay inside my safe little home. That’s when I knew something had to change. When I knew I had to change.

I have decided to have joy.  To actively pursue it.  To fight and battle for it.
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Do y’all remember my word for the year?  Prayer.  At the time I couldn’t figure out why God wanted my word of the year to be prayer.  It wasn’t until I read this verse that I understood.  This verse commands us to be joyful.  And what comes right after rejoice always?  PRAY continually.  And what was my verse for the year?  1 Thessalonians 5:17.  Smack dab in the middle of having joy and being thankful.  Oh, our God is such an awesome God.  While I was busy complaining because I didn’t get a “cool kid” word for the year, God knew exactly what He was doing and what I would need  †
I found joy explained online as “Joy is an inward delight in God and an outward emotion that flows from His presence and His promises. It’s a state of heart and mind, based upon one’s relationship with God; not based upon circumstances, and very often this joy is shared with others.”

I was basing my joy on my circumstances.  I was pushing my joy to the side so I could make room for a big ole’ pity party.  Don’t get me wrong, some of these aspects still make me sad and break my heart.  But joy is my choice.  Joy is a fruit of the Spirit, second only to love, it flows from God, not circumstances.  We have a fundamental need for joy in our lives. Life without joy is overwhelming, depressing and just plain sad.

In the short book of Philippians {only four chapters long} Paul uses the word “joy” 16 times.  I find this absolutely amazing.  Do you know why?  Paul didn’t write this book when he was on vacation at the beach.  He didn’t write it overlooking a sunset.  He was in prison in Rome, waiting to be executed. In the darkest days of his life, he wrote the most positive book in the Bible.

So today, I choose joy.  Will you choose it with me?
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Philippians 4:4
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One Light Still Shines {Book Review}

One Light Still Shines
By Marie Monville
About the book:

“My story is not about my past, but about your future,” says Marie Roberts Monville. 

In the startling tragedy of the Amish schoolhouse shooting at Nickel Mines, one story has never been told; Marie Roberts Monville, the wife of the man who created such horror, tells her story for the very first time. It is a story of sorrow and destruction, but also one of majestic deliverance, unending compassion, breathtaking forgiveness, and grace-filled redemption. 

Within a solitary moment, Marie Monville realized that life, as she knew it, was over. What she never anticipated was a tangible encounter with God reaching into her circumstances, through them rewriting all she believed about herself, her faith, and the God she thought she knew. One Light Still Shines reveals three love stories: the innocent love of a devoted wife for a husband in pain, the incomprehensible love of God in the aftermath of massacre and destruction, and the redemptive love of Christ, waiting to unfold in the life of every person who reads this book. 

Marie’s journey since that darkest of days has been invaded with light which shines through these pages into the darkest questions we all face–questions about our past, our value, our identity, and own powerlessness in this fallen world. Come face to face with the Power behind every answer—a love that begs to be received.

If I could sum up this book in one word it would be AMAZ-WOW-RIFFIC!  Y’all, I could not put this book down once I started it.  And when I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t wait until I finished my chores so I could get straight back to reading it.

This beautifully written and heart-wrenching memoir will leave no reader untouched. What an amazing testimony Marie has. Marie was the wife of Charlie Roberts, the man who committed a brutal massacre at an Amish schoolhouse. With one phone call, in a matter of minutes, Marie’s life changed forever. Charlie was dead and so were at least three little Amish girls, and the others gravely wounded.

Marie revealed her heart through her book and shared her struggles as she began to pick up the pieces and move on after the tragedy. She reflected on God’s love surrounding her and the support of her family and friends as each day passed.

This story will absolutely touch your heart and will be one you won’t soon forget. This is an amazing read, I highly recommend it!

This book was provided to me free of charge by booksneeze.com in return for my honest review. The opinions i have expressed are my own.

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Praying for your Husband from Head to Toe {book review}

Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe 
by Sharon Jaynes

About the book:

As a wife, you have been given the privilege of serving as a mighty prayer warrior for your husband. Yet sometimes, even when poised with the best of intentions, you may find the task overwhelming. You wonder: What should I pray? How should I pray? What prayers does he need right now? 

In Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe, Sharon Jaynes maps out sixteen landmarks to help you consistently and effectively cover your husband in prayer. From his mind and the thoughts he thinks, to his eyes and the images he sees, all the way down to his feet and the path he takes, Sharon teaches you how to pray for your husband in ways that are powerful, practical, and life-changing. 

The 30-day prayer guide provides Scriptures for each day along with corresponding prayers to target the crucial areas of every man’s life. You’ll be equipped and empowered to establish the habit of purposeful prayer in just a few dedicated minutes each day.

Perfect for group use or individual reflection, this book maps out a memorable and reproducible pattern of prayer to strengthen your marriage, deepen your personal prayer life, and cover your husband from head to toe—in ways that will lift not only his spirit, but yours as well.

So if you’ve read my blog for any amount of time, you’ve no doubt read about my struggle with prayer.  For some reason, I always feel like I struggle with prayer and the right words to say.  This book has been a tremendous asset in showing me how to pray for my husband.

Sharon Jaynes witnessed first hand what praying for a man could do. She saw her prayers for her father answered as he eventually turned towards God and away from destructive behavior. Jaynes had also seen the effect her prayers had in the life of her husband. She wrote Praying for Your Husband from Head to Toe to help other women learn how to pray for their husbands without trying to control God and their husbands in the process.

The author has broken each thing down from what your husband sees, his strength, etc. Then she incorporates all of these things into 30 prayers. I think the part that I have liked the most is how she talks about how sometimes prayer is all you can do and that it really does change how you think about your husband. I know that God is powerful and I know that talking to Him about my husband is one of the best things I can do for him and our marriage. I highly recommend this book!

WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group provided this book to me for free in exchange for this honest review as part of their Blogging for Books program.

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