Be Happy/Choose Joy

If you are a fan of 80s music you may remember the song "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobby McFerrin. (I apologize if it's now stuck in your head!) This simple ditty tells us that we should be happy no matter the circumstances. That is easier than it sounds.

There are many things that bring happiness to your life - a promotion at work, a new baby in the family, or a visit from the Publishers' Clearinghouse people. Sometimes those moments of happiness are short lived, and our mood slips down. Years ago I came across a quote in my Life Application Study Bible that has stuck with me. It says, "Happiness depends on happenings, but joy depends on Christ." Outside influences determine our level of happiness and can change from day to day, hour to hour. Another driver cut you off in traffic. Someone you thought was a friend betrayed a confidence. A negative result came back on a medical test. These things can take away your happiness.

On the other hand, the group for KING & COUNTRY has a song called "joy" in which they sing "the time has come to make a choice and I choose joy." Joy is described in the same Bible as "the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives - that he will be there no matter what." Joy comes from the internal peace of knowing that God wants the best for us and will bring something good from a seemingly bad situation. It is possible to find joy in all situations.

Don't get me wrong! I was not feeling any happiness when I was standing at the side of the road looking at the place where my husband was laying. But in that moment I still felt the joy of knowing that Maddy was with Jesus. I could hold to the knowledge that we had a great life together.

Last Christmas was the first since I was 18 years old that I didn't spend with Maddy. It was different, and I will admit I was still in a fog and going through the motions. Throughout our marriage I was the Christmas fan. Maddy would've been fine if we didn't have a tree or any presents. He still wanted the meal though. I was the one who put up the decorations, baked the cookies, and bought the gifts. I did get him to put lights on the house for a couple years before that became my job. One year I even convinced him to make a tree out of lights on our yard light - only one year.

This year I decided I to get into the spirit of the holiday. I decided that I was going to do Christmas for me. I put out the decorations in the house, set up the tree and hung ornaments, and even created new festive designs outside. Christmas has always made me feel joy inside and I needed that joy to return. I still had moments where memories made me melancholy. Remembering past fun times or thinking about what we would be doing if he was here brought my mood down, but I decided not to spend too much time there. I needed that joy to shine through and become a bigger influence than the momentary sadness. I focused on the good in my life - my girls, my future granddaughter, my family.

We can choose to focus on what is happening around us and let it influence our mood and demeanor. We can remember that God is with us and will turn the momentary trials in our lives to good. We can choose to focus on Earthly experiences or turn our focus on God and experience joy.

I choose joy.