Five Minute Friday: Joy

On Friday's we silence the inner critic. The loudest of all naysayers. And on Fridays we remind ourselves that The Word is for us and loves us and welcomes us.  Your words are safe here.  So come and write with us. Together. On one word for five minutes.  The rules can be found by clicking here.   Once you write your piece on the topic then click her, then link up your post or leave it in the comments, and comment on the person before you.  But remember, the one must rule here is that you visit the person who linked up before you and encourage them in their writing.  That’s it. The gift of encouragement – pass it on.  Today the word is the one that’s bubble up and out and spilled over in me today.

Today the writing prompt is JOY.
Go:
I wish I could tell you that I always have joy in my life....but I can't.  I am human and sometimes doubts, fear, anger, saddness swallow up my joy.  Even though that happens from time to time....joy is still my life word of choice.  My dad had by-pass surgery when my daughter was 20.  We were both very concerned because of his age, because he was not in the best of shape, and because he was the only surviving sibling.  All of his brothers and his father had died from something heart related by the time they were in their sixties.  My dad told me before this surgery that he knew he was living on borrowed time.  This did not make me joyful.  I am a daddy's girl and my daughter was a peepaw's girl and we let the devil take our joy out of life right then.  We were all at the hospital early in the morning because his surgery was one of the first.  We gathered with him and his surgical team to pray before they wheeled him off and the surgeon asked if he could say the prayer.  He also pulled up his surgical pants to show us a WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) bracelet on his ankle.   This was a very calming thing for me.  It meant he was not going into this alone.  After we settled in the waiting room I grew antsy, wandered off and found the hospital chapel.  There was a warm light beckoning me inside and as I approached the altar I noticed the huge bible opened and drawing me closer.  When I looked at the open pages I recieved a message clearly from God....I knew everything was going to be ok.....because there it was in black and white....God's message found in Psalm 30:5:  "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."  I prayed silently and returned to my mom and daughter in the waiting room.  My dad came through his surgery fine.  He lived to the ripe age of 84.  Joy has always been one of my favorite words.  Joy To The World is one of my favorite Christmas carols, I've Got That Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart is one of my favorite songs to teach children, Joyful, Joyful We Adore You - are you seeing a pattern developing here?  I love the word Joy.  According to Websters Joy means a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.  It is synonymous with words like...delight, jubilation, exultation, rejoicing, happiness, glee, elation....rapture.  Yep....I love the word joy because joy lives in my heart(most of the time).  I would rather be joyful than sad.  I would rather be happy than mad.  Negative people wear me out and I tend to flock towards the ones who know joy.  Today I am full of joy because this is the last day of school before Spring Break!  You know it, I have got joy in my heart, in my step, and on my face today.  How about you?  Will you choose Joy today?