Joy Comes In The Morning

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord. (Psalm 27:13-14)

Each day, I am reminded of the great love that surrounds me.  It’s evident in the work I do. It’s there in the children’s’ smiles. It’s present in every moment that I’m awake and those that I am not. It constantly shapes, encourages, and strengthens me. I wish that you could experience the same love that I see, feel, and receive each day. I’ve included lots of pictures throughout this blog in the hope that you might be able to catch glimpses of the love that thrives here. Maybe you will be inspired to love a little more freely and with little more purpose.

 

I’ve been holding back. This is something that has been constantly on my mind for the last few months. Since I arrived in Uganda three months ago I really haven’t’ been fully myself. I’ve known it too. Part of it was due to being homesick. It was much harder leaving Gabon and coming here than I thought it would be, so much of me wanted to take a short trip home to visit my loved ones. But mostly, it was a strange and unidentifiable sadness that had settled over me.  Yes, I was thrilled to be doing what I was doing. I loved building relationships with the children that I was getting to know. It was all I had ever wanted to do and I completely enjoyed all of it. I wasn’t satisfied or fully of joy though. I hardly smiled anymore except when I was with the kids. I didn’t feel that eager and strong desire to go out of my way to make someone smile.  I didn’t feel like encouraging or serving those around me. I didn’t even really want to be around people. All I wanted when I wasn’t at a project was to be by myself. It wasn’t me and I knew it. I wanted to be overwhelming happy, I really did, but for some reason my joy was missing.

 













So, I started praying for joy. I started thinking about and processing why I was feeling the way I was. I started deliberately asking to be overwhelmed with joy in the midst of every day simple tasks.  Guess what, that is exactly what began happening. Now I cannot explain why I am so happy and so excited about everything. I cannot stop smiling. I wake up smiling and I go to bed laughing. The joy that I have keeps growing. I can’t even wrap my mind around how blessed and lucky I am to be where I am and to be doing what I get to do every day. All I want to do is share the joy that I have with those around me.

Let me just encourage you; don’t be afraid to ask God for something specific. He already knows what we are struggling with. He wants to fill our needs. The picture I have is of God, our good and perfect Father just waiting for us to ask Him for the big things the things that are the best for us. He hears all of our prayers, the ones where we ask for things based on our circumstances, and I can imagine he wondering why we don’t ask for what we really need. God can do anything. Yes, He can provide jobs and He can bless relationships. But God can do so much more than give us things. He can do more than fix the problem we are in. God can fill us with His Spirit. He can fill our needs unlimitedly, like joy, or love, or patience, or peace.  Instead of satisfying us for a moment, He can satisfy us for life. It won’t be an answer for our problem or the circumstance we are in, it will be the answer that is more enough for every problem or circumstance. Don’t limit God to what you think you should ask for or want you want. What is it that you truly desire that you long for? He already knows and is just waiting to be asked.

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (Psalms 23:6)