Joy and Peace | Two in One

Well, it's certainly been a long time since I have written anything. I have spiritually gone from one extreme to the other time and time again in just a short span of about two and a half weeks. I am not expert on the subject I had in mind to discuss, but I have recently gathered that we as people learn from our own experiences. So, perhaps if I share this with you I to can take away from this and apply it to my life.

I crave joy. I long for that mantel of pure joy, where laughter comes easily. I long for that ability to just scream from the top of my lungs from the excitement and joy that bubbles up from the depths of our beings to praise God. Instead I am a reserved quiet person that I believe is quenching the person God designed. If I crave them, was I not created for that? John 16: 24 states this "Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full." My joy isn't full. Yet, over and over it is given to us the option of child like behavior to simply ask. I the other night was discussing with one of my dear friends the simplicity of the kingdom. That to obtain anything we need simply to ask Father, and it shall be given. So then why is it so difficult to obtain joy? The kingdom of heaven is the opposite of what our world makes things. In heaven the first shall come last, reference Matthew 19:30. So in our nature it is that joy comes first then we rejoice. Should it not be then that we rejoice in Him and the joy shall be given? I think so. Bill Johnson said it to, and I respect what he has to say. I right now in my life am honestly at the lowest point I have ever been. From the outside looking in it looks positively horrid, and until this morning the inside looked just as horrid. As I searched myself I found only anger, bitterness, hate, and malice. Today. I choose to begin to rejoice in what is happening around me, through me, in me, and with that will come a break through in myself. I will be given the peace and joy of the Lord. My spirit will be gentle, what was destroyed by circumstance will be built back up, and I will be made whole again. I think that I will made more then what I was before Satan had a chance to take a whack at me. Because with all this knowledge and wisdom I obtain, I have the opportunity to take the upgrade and become more like Christ. So simple, so beautiful.

So if it is simple to obtain joy through the asking and rejoicing in our spirits shouldn't be easy to gain peace. Absolutely. Joy and peace go hand in hand.

Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope."

I want both of those, but more importantly the outcome is hope and to live life you need hope. I have/had very little, it will build back up. The more I proclaim it the more likely it is to come to pass. Holy Spirit lives within me, therefore if he abounds in hope so do I. I am not quite sure how much sense this is making, but it's so important. If we have no hope there is no way to shift our perspective and we allow now room for God to soften our hearts. Realty is realty. We can't change it but what I can change is my perspective. Honesty from friends, ourselves, and Holy spirit will keeps us accountable to the issues of our character. And if we do not have joy and peace then there is something terrible wrong with our character, especially if we call ourselves Christians.

So leave with this... that if you ask it shall be given, that if we first rejoice no matter the circumstance joy will hold fast to us and our peace shall be steady in the storm. Our hope will not waver and I will remain whole in his spirit. I think that having written about it has solidified it in my own spirit. And with a sound mind I can now apply this in my life so that I can rise about my circumstance and allow his spirit to do the work that is needed. Because I know in my life that if it is to mean anything then how I handle each situation is going to affect someone else and if they see God in me then my work has been done.

The Wedding vs The Marriage

I growing up dreamed of being a wife and a mother, just like my mother. More importantly I dreamt often of the man I would spend the rest of my life with. I didn't really dream of the wedding, it was always the marriage that I longed for. I knew that I was cut out for a life of being a wife, mother, and still be a career driven woman. I want it all.

Being raised in a family where marriage, love, and community are at the heart has always had a huge impact on how I view and approach life. I think that most women if they do think of the "marriage" they are thinking about the wedding. It is every girls big day, she is the center of attention. I had never really thought of it in detail until I got engaged to my husband now Erik. I instead always dreamed of what was to come, the ability to provide as a woman, raising a home where peace and love were felt in the environment. I wanted that home that radiated the Father's love. Why? He often speaks of His love for us. He created marriage. The marriage and the wedding symbolize what God did for the church.

I love weddings, it is the most wonderful celebration. I love the joy, the excitement, and the presence of God that is involved with them. I love watching wedding shows, all of them. I especially love David Tutera's show. The gift he gives each of these brides he helps is just always astounding. The show honestly never ceases to make choke up just a bit, at the joy he presents to these women. But what I always wonder is how does the marriage go? After the day of magic what happens? I know my fairy tale has taken it's toll.

I believe that it always takes longer for a woman to adjust to the life of being married then the man. I mean biblically speaking it says that the man leaves his parents to cleave to his wife. It never once says anything about the woman. I totally think that a marriage is just two people. But that separate from mother and father to husband takes time. It is a sweet process. When your husband continues to woo you beyond the wedding day and every day shows and lays down his life for you it brings you to a place of ultimate love for that person. And they become your first love not your parents. Now, some don't have great parents, I did, I don't know what it is life for the other spectrum, but for me it is a tough struggle of a transition.

My transition has come to a halt, as I have said that my fairy tale has been a bit rocky. How do you handle the struggles of a marriage? Well, I have learned this quickly no battle is worth being right over and that no matter what the only person that I can improve is me. I focus only on improving me, I never try and make my husband improve himself. He has to choose to want to change and create a new "normal" with me. We all have different normals, different ways of how we live life. We are individuals. In order to have a healthy successful marriage you must constantly work towards creating a normal of peace, love, and grace. Otherwise everything else will fail. Satan is there to destroy this beautiful thing between two people.

I believe in marriage, not the wedding. However, I also love the wedding. The beauty and joy of the celebration is worth all the time and effort, even if David Tutera didn't do my wedding, it was gorgeous. What I want is that love that is strong, powerful, and healthy where I can raise my family in an environment even my step son whom I look at as my own flesh and blood. I don't really like the term step child. I want that family that leaves a legacy for God to be proud of. I don't know who doesn't. What's more important is helping the couples understand the importance of the marriage, and to recognize that it's more important to change you than the other person. Always fight for the other person to come out on top, and you can't really go wrong.