grace

joy in developing happiness habits

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

write31days-journeying-into-joy-developing-happiness-habits

 

An open cup greets me from this proteus flower. It’s a reminder to be just as open and aware, as receptive to God’s light, love mercy and grace in life’s daily spaces. I long to be alert and open to joy in my daily grind, to awaken to wonder, look for the soul sustenance it provides while I seek to offer hope and encouragement to others.

It’s not always easy, is it? Joy may be like a fragrant bouquet blooming in our hearts and homes but we need eyes to see it and a disposition of openness to receive it. Clenched fists, sour thoughts and ungrateful hearts are not well placed to receive such a  gift.

The poem below grew out of a hunger to live with open hands, mind and heart…

Welcome

Good morning, new day

I want to welcome you

with arms wide open

I long to make room

in every receptive way

for your ordinary wonder

and let hope bloom strong

within by gift of grace

©JoyLenton2016

It takes grace to even begin to see the gift of joy seeping into our days. We remain blind to these things without a holy opening.

But there are ways to help ourselves, to train eye and soul in the pursuit of joy. It takes a deliberate desire, a willing spirit and an ability to be patient while we nurture the seed of joy within.

“You prepare for the journey to a happier life by nourishing your heart with truth, beauty and love, by filling your soul with forgiveness and letting go, by changing to become the authentic person you were created to be” ~ Daniel O’Leary  ‘The Happiness Habit’

Maybe it also includes these 4 ‘A’s to finding deeper joy:

  • Acceptance instead of resistance – to God’s will and work in us
  • Adaptation rather than consternation – when life hits hard
  • Awareness more than ignorant bliss – by searching the Scriptures for God’s take on this
  • Appreciation over resignation – having an attitude of gratitude in all things

“I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart” ~ Psalms 40:8 NLT

The longer we linger in God’s presence, the more joy filled and joyful we will become.

“Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place” ~ 1 Chronicles 16:27 NIV

We can rejoice in God’s daily help, strength and protection.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him” ~ Psalm 28:7 NIV

Praise and worship lend themselves to another blog post for another day, such is their effect on maintaining joy. But I hope and pray you will be blessed by today’s reflection.

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Welcome to #day22 of #write31days of journeying into joy! Thank you for keeping me company here.

Please feel free to share your own happiness habits in the comments below. 

write31days-journeying-into-joy-happiness-habits-welcome-poem

thoughts on being a joyful giver

/ Joy Lenton / 16 Comments

write31days-journeying-into-joy-on-being-a-joyful-giver

It is said that it’s more blessed to give than to receive. I always derive more pleasure from picking out gifts for others rather than opening my own, though they are greatly appreciated, of course. I guess I dislike being the centre of attention, or getting another year older!

When it comes to gift giving it truly is the thought that counts. We regularly receive a card through the post – proper snail mail no less – from a dear friend of ours who not only supports us in prayer but also remembers that we once used to be church members. Our faces remain largely forgotten, even our names cause puzzled faces, so long has our absence been. But to this kind lady we are still friends she treasures and fondly remembers.

I think the gift is more the encouragement of being prayed for and thought about than the card itself and small token she sometimes sends. To be held in prayer and thought of in love is no small thing. It has seen us through some very painful times.

Sometimes it is humbling to receive, especially when we’re in straightened circumstances. But we negate the potential blessing if we fail to give or receive out of embarrassment or indifference. A tender heart and listening ear will help us to be sensitive to the best timing as well as the most appropriate gift we can offer someone.

Maybe God is calling you to consider different ways of being a giver? It’s less about splashing the cash and more about expending time, thought and prayer. Our attitude matters most. God loves a cheerful giver who reveals the way He loves to give to us – freely, liberally, lavishly, generously – and radiates His loving-kindness.

God wants us to give out of a heart of love and compassion, shaped by Holy Spirit inspiration and direction. He will show us the best way to offer help and support to others as we learn to be joyful givers and grateful recipients.

Dear Father,

May we always remember to be kind, act lovingly, show mercy

As we give to others let us do so from a heart of gratitude,

not out of guilt. Show us just how much has been given to us,

so we do not become mean gleaners but gracious givers

 

Remind us how everyone we meet has deep secret needs

There is pain and strife, wounds are present in every life

There is an ache inside, a void only you can fill

Sadness invades us, as does grief. Every life sits in shade

sometimes. Every person is in pursuit of peace and ease

 

May we be given eyes to see, hearts full of compassion,

a willingness to be your hands and feet in a needy

world. Teach us how to be transformed as we feel

our way around this place. Reveal how grace shapes

our days and how best to offer it to others.

Amen

“Everyone should give whatever they have decided in their heart. They shouldn’t give with hesitation or because of pressure. God loves a cheerful giver” ~ 2 Corinthians 9:7 CEB

31-days-of-journeying-into-joy-badgeWelcome to #day20 of #write31days of journeying into joy, where we are examining various ways in which we can lead a more joy filled life.  

Your presence here is gift and grace to me. Thank you for allowing me access to your inbox.  🙂

write31days-journeying-into-joy-a-joyful-giver-prayer

When you need help starting over again

/ Joy Lenton / 22 Comments

starting over - PJ

What if we could start over again? What would it look like to wipe the slate clean, rewind time and take out the flaws and failings of our lives?

Sadly, we would soon discover that the fault lies within. A flawed heart means faulty choices and actions. An unredeemed mind leads us into toxic thinking and bad behaviour.

And only God can fully address humanity’s needs and offer us a fresh start when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. We can begin again by God’s grace.

Then each day becomes opportunity for starting over. Each hour breathes out potential of the barely begun.

When I reflected on this season, it became clear that I’ve been stuck in a ditch of discouragement for several weeks. Led by my feelings and fast losing any joy I had before.

I wondered why joy was so elusive, where God was in the midst of my distress, why I couldn’t seem to get out of this cycle.

There were no pat answers. But God gently urged me to write a bit about joy, little snippets He whispered during my prayer times.

It seems joy is like a bright light glimpsed in the distance and we often miss the fact it’s also shining in us.

It felt elusive until I realised it doesn’t depend on my feelings at all. Because joy is a gift of grace weaving through our painful circumstances and giving us hope in dark places.

Once we realise how joy is always hovering close by, then we can start to discover it in numerous ways, such as: a slow unfolding realisation of its presence, a heart’s gratitude, an attitude of praise, a smile from a loved one, laughter bubbling up, a beautiful view, hearing God speak comfort into our weary souls.

How have you discovered or rediscovered joy hiding in plain sight? I’d love you to share in the comments below.

I’ve found that joy is a choice. As we read God’s word, receive and believe it, we start to notice how the life of faith is a series of conscious decisions we make every day. And we can waken to that hope with each new dawn.

Friends, I’m sorry for being missing here for a while. Too much life slowed me to a standstill. Thank you for your grace and patience. ❤

dawn beach tanka poem pin

When you’re wearing a thin veneer

/ Joy Lenton / 14 Comments

a thin veneer - PJ

Life can pare us down to the bone. All that remains is a thin veneer of capability.

We can plaster on a smile but it doesn’t always hide heartache within.

Our souls can wear a semblance of normality yet shield a great deal of pain on the inside.

I was reminded of feeling this way recently when accompanying my husband to a hospital waiting room.

Such places provide a glimpse of the struggles others go through, although the evidence isn’t always evident.

We sit, trying to be patient patients in an environment guaranteed to provoke into anxiety, and you don’t have to be the one waiting to be seen to feel it.

We tend to cast covert glances around the room while being careful not to catch an eye. So much is given away by the windows of our soul, isn’t it?

Because who wants their concerns flagged up for all to see? Who can cope with a stranger’s curiosity?

Most of us just want to conceal our stuff, our inner baggage. Hide our woundedness from others.

How do I cope when life gets hard? I think a lot. Too much, sometimes. I cry. I pray. I read God’s word. I journal and I write poetry…

A thin veneer

She watches thin veneer curling away at edges

panels pared down to chine-bone, chipped

away by ravages of years and time

Hardly a soul here now, barely a breath

to stir antiseptic air made stale by fear

in this orthopaedic waiting room

Anxiety stalks these walkways where hushed

voices betray a reverence for medicine

Eyes flit to ceiling marred by blind hanging

by a thread, with silted panes protruding

beneath, clouding out blue sky, limiting

horizon for those seeking some escape

So we wait, reluctant clock-watchers of the hours

and see, with incredulity, how mere minutes

have passed since last we glanced at glass

Spirits sag in sympathy with weary bodies

wearing but a thin veneer of patience here

©JoyLenton2016

One thing I do know with complete certainty.. God loves you and me.

Jesus came to liberate us from inner loneliness, fear and anxiety. To open us up to a transformed way of thinking and being.

He offers us a way to break free from fear. To be so secure in His love, so changed by His grace that we no longer need to hide ourselves away.

We can live an open-hearted, giving and receiving kind of life when we turn to Him, become redeemed, restored and refuelled for wherever the journey may take us.

And those veneers we wear will gradually strip away. We can be real. We can be free. We can be all God intends us to be by His grace.

a thin veneer PJ pin

When we need a reminder

/ Joy Lenton / 10 Comments

when we need a reminder PJ

Days can bleed softly into one another and we so often miss being able to see and sense the sacred in the secular.

Holy and hallowed moments meeting with us in the mundane. Whispers of God’s grace in the commonplace.

My heart’s longs to live with greater awareness. To have my eyes open to wonder. To be present to Presence.

To know that whether I feel anything or not, God is always present.

And His active, living presence is what my soul needs most.

I desire to recognise holy in the everyday. God at home in my heart and mind, rooted in life’s reality.

I want to live in the light of His presence as I walk through this world, sense His peace and love, know I am His beloved.

And I want to make space for the entrance of grace to change and transform my mess.

Remind me

Living Lord,

Remind me as I go through my days

to know that the Lord is in this place

Awaken me to wonder

Alert me to Your Love

Bring a deep, abiding sense

of Your peaceful Presence

Calm this restless heart

Still my anxious mind

And as I sit and absorb

may I rise and go forth

share the beauty and grace I see

witness to Your Life in me

©JoyLenton2016

I definitely need to be reminded of these things. Maybe you do too?

Centering prayer is helping me to have that focus on a daily basis. Here’s a link to a helpful app I am currently using for that.

I also read quite a few devotional resources, use this bible app and dip into this prayerful app too from time to time.

What helps you to focus on God’s presence?

How are you best reminded of His daily grace?

remind me prayer PJ file pin

A moment in time

/ Joy Lenton / 8 Comments

seeking and finding PJ

Some moments are frozen in time, stilled in sense and sight. Etched on our minds and engraved in our memories.

I’m remembering a week when my beloved was away for a few days and (very thoughtfully) provided me with meals in the freezer.

All lovingly home-cooked and pre-prepared ahead of time. Yes I know, I’m one blessed woman!

There was even a typed list of what to find where and how to deal with it. How’s that for organisation?

He takes such good care of me; his hands willing to work on my behalf since he lost paid employment, and despite having developed Parkinson’s disease over the last 2 years.

Thankfully, he can still do most things he used to do before his diagnosis, albeit slower, with a degree of pain and fatigue.

I’m not completely helpless in a kitchen. I can muster up coffee, breakfast and a snack, but I am unused to coping alone with main meals.

Because cooking and cleaning are lost arts to me since I’ve become more chronically unwell with arthritis, fibromyalgia and M.E.

I can’t stand for long,  lift or carry much, can only walk a few steps unaided,  experience a great deal of muscle and joint pain plus profound fatigue on a daily basis, cognitive problems, brain fog and hypersensitivity to light and sound.

Thankfully, my husband actually loves to cook because he’s pretty good at it and preparing meals relaxes him.

We may live a rather limited life compared to some, yet we are grateful for small mercies and experience moments of  joy in little things.

The poem below speaks about my determination to press past my problems and push myself to enjoy a moment in time – although it’s not a recommended practice for those with M.E to extend themselves too much. Sadly, there’s always a payback afterwards. 😦

A moment in time

a moment in time laundry PJ

It’s only a moment in time

as I heed the inner need

to step outside a while

My senses alert to burgeoning

life as I peg laundry to line

I feel warm sun rays

playing on my face

like a heaven’s breath

benediction of grace

Whistling wind whips swift

tussling through hair and

trees, its resonant notes

vibrating each green leaf

Echoed in chiming ice-cream

van, roaming nearby streets,

while ‘sun has got its hat on’

sounds make children fleet of feet

My arms and legs ache so

with every move I make

And this bitter-sweet task

is no mean feat for me

Although washing is often

dried inside, today I yield,

follow my heart’s yearning,

welcoming embrace of Spring

©JoyLenton2015

a moment in time PJ pin

**I’m editing and sharing this pre-prepared post I’d intended to share last year, because my health remains rather challenging at the moment and fresh inspiration is a bit thin on the ground. Hopefully normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Thank you for your grace! ** 🙂

For God so loved

/ Joy Lenton / Leave a comment

for God so loved PJ

Although the Advent season is now at a close, the message it brings continues to influence and change lives.

God’s love is eternal, everlasting and ever-available to us.

During Advent we are drawn into the wonder of the Incarnation, Christ made flesh.

It also pulls us into the holy awe of Easter where Jesus was willing to die a painful death for us.

They are inextricably linked, eternally bound by God’s purposes and plans.

We cannot view the babe in the manger without catching sight of the cross in the background.

Love comes at a price, and none have paid so high a price as the Son of God Himself.

Jesus literally died for love of us.

The wonder of it never ceases…

For God so loved…

Dear heavenly Father,

You loved; You keep on loving; You are Love

Love divine, Love Incarnate, Love excelling all other loves

It is Your defining characteristic

the essence of who You are and how You act

How can I begin to fathom the depths of Your love?

How can I experience it in all its simplicity,

its fullness and rich complexity?

Only by revelation

Only by faith

Only by acceptance

Only by grace

I read about Your love in Your word and it amazes me

I desire to experience it more in my heart and life

Would You live out Your love in and through

this weak mind and body of mine?

Would You find a way to touch the lives of others

with its heat, its power and all-consuming fire?

I rest complete in Your love

Because I need nothing else

Everything flows from it

Your love is the starting point of faith

and will be with me beyond the grave

In humble gratitude, I give thanks for all

I have already seen, believed and received

of Your inexhaustible, unconditional love

and all that is yet to be known,

lived out and personally owned

Amen

©JoyLenton2016

for God so loved prayer PJ pin

“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” ~ John 3:16

During the last few weeks I’ve been mulling over the new ‘word’ for the year which God whispered to my heart ahead of time.

He has made it clear that the emphasis for me for 2016 is to be ‘LOVE’.

To see how this has already affected me while I absorb its fuller implications, you can read this introductory post on my main blog, Words of Joy. 

I’m looking forward to seeing what insights are given in the months ahead and sharing some of them with you here.

Do you have a ‘word’ for the year? I’d love to hear what it is and how it affects you. Feel free to join in the conversation below.

The story starts with a seed

/ Joy Lenton / 22 Comments

from a seed - PJ

In Advent we look forward with anticipation to an event of great magnitude.

Remembrance and celebration of Jesus coming to earth for us.

Entering our fallen humanity with the purpose of being the only acceptable, possible sinless sacrifice for our sin.

Beginning in a humble place, with a message of universal hope and grace.

And like all historic occasions, as we look back we can see the seeds of it happening, the roots of origin revealed.

In the poem below I am trying to capture an essence of the foundations for God’s plan of salvation.

Because marvelling at Jesus coming to earth doesn’t stop (or start) with the babe in the manger.

It transcends time itself as part of God’s foreknowledge before we ever knew of it.

All stories start with a seed, a germ of an idea, a creative spirit.

This is the greatest story ever told. One we repeat with awe. God incarnate, come as one of us.

The story starts with a seed…

From a seed

dark seeds

Eve was deceived and

sowed a seed of destruction

leading to mankind’s expulsion

from heavenly joy into a darker

employ of labour and toil

fear, pain, guilt and shame

Yet hidden within her

human skin lay a dormant

seed-carrier capacity

a foretaste of the future

when sin’s enormity

would require a Saviour

And Mary became Seed-bearer

for the human race

to be redeemed by love

and set free by grace

by the birth of God on earth

constrained into a human frame

Her child – Jesus, our Messiah

Saviour, Servant-King and Lord

to whom we bring faith-seed offering

of a heart willing to believe

a mind receptive to receive

a spirit to praise and to adore

©JoyLenton2015

I’m sharing my chosen five-minute-friday word ‘seed’ and the poem that came from it with fellow word-wrangling wordsmith friends at Kate Motaung’s site, with Mel at essentialfridays and with Barbie for Weekend Whispers. You are very welcome to join us or to stop by and be blessed by reading the posts we share.

Mary as Seed bearer - PJ

A Man for all seasons

/ Joy Lenton / 17 Comments

advent- light of the world PJ

It’s that time of year again when a lot of us become overly distracted, caught up in a browsing/buying/bingeing frenzy even as we want to still our souls and focus most on the presence of the Light of the world within.

Some just want to disappear, pull the duvet over their head until it’s all over and life can get back to normal, please.

Each season brings its own charm and challenges, doesn’t it?

I love slowing down to have a deeper appreciation of Advent. Maybe you do too.

It’s a waiting, watching and wondering period of remembering how and why our Saviour came to earth.

Becoming a tiny babe in a earthly frame at the start of an arduous journey toward the cross.

His sole purpose was to hold out loving arms willing to die for us, to bear the burden of sin we carry within.

I can’t help but think how crazy-busy, sad and mixed up this season can be. Many are in physical or emotional pain, desperate, dying on the inside, others literally in fear of their lives.

As we sit heavy with a world’s sadness, sorrow and pain, we can breathe in sweet remembrance of  the Reason to savour the joy of our salvation, of our brokenness being made whole.

What if we primarily saw this season as a grace invitation to lean harder, listen closer, open our eyes and hearts to the Man for all seasons who stands ready with arms wide open to receive us?

A Man for all seasons

holly - for all seasons PJ

Deck the halls with boughs of holly

Fa la la la la la la la

‘Tis the season to be jolly

Fa la la la la la la la

But what if…

you feel the sharp prick of painful

circumstances bleeding into your days

or sway inside as you sip a bitter

cup bearing berries of unforgiveness,

or have grief eating you up within;

how can we celebrate a season of

consumerism or avoid its slick

perma-present ‘buy this’ rictus grin?

There is a way because there is a Man

for all seasons, a Son and Brother

who is our soul’s Lover; He stands

ready to ignite a fire to thaw all cold

and burden-heavy hearts

He sees the season we are in

and His gift offering invites us

instead to focus our blurry,

world-weary gaze on Him

It may feel wintry-chill within

our fearful souls but His Love’s warmth

seals against all ills as it permeates with

laser grace to revive and make us whole

©JoyLenton2015

I’m warming my heart today by having fellowship with fellow wordsmiths sharing their five-minute-friday offerings on the word prompt ‘season’ over at Kate Motaung’s place and with Mel and friends as we focus on the essential things of life and faith. You’re very welcome to join us.

for all seasons poem PJ

Being sustained at the table

/ Joy Lenton / 9 Comments

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Advent is a season to deliberately look for and lean toward the light of God’s presence.

We hunger for hope, run hard after His wild mercy and grace.

Long for freedom from our pain, guilt and shame.

Seek sustenance for our dry, thirsty souls.

Scripture gives us promises that the weak and weary will be refuelled and restored at God’s table of grace.

So we come because invitation has been given to feast with Him here and in greater abundance in heaven.

Won’t you join me at the table? I’ve saved a seat for you. There’s always room for more.

Come taste the wine of His presence and eat the Bread which gives sustenance and life to us.

“But those who suffer he delivers in their suffering; he speaks to them in their affliction. He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food” ~ Job 36:15-16

This table..

Here lies hospitality beyond

all knowing, an open table

stretching to infinity

which still keeps growing

A warm welcome here for all

who live in Love’s thrall and spend

their lives devoted to the Friend

who laid down His life for them

Yet here in the very midst

of mess, trouble and strife

we find this table groaning

heavy, brimful with Life

In the presence of our enemies

this table speaks of bounty

deep, laden with grace for the

able, wounded and weak

And even as we eat and drink

to sustain our weary souls,

we will always rise replete,

satiated, filled and whole

This table sits within dark

wilderness, shining bright

with Light’s heavenly splendour

inviting us to taste largesse

©JoyLenton2015

hospitality table FMF PJ

“You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” ~ Psalm 23:5-6

I’m joining fellow thankful table-dwellers over at Kate Motaung’s site today as we feast on the word ‘table’ , chew it over in five minutes flat and pour out our soul offerings. The poem above is my contribution to the rich fare being served there. Come join us?