"Can Someone Really Choose Joy?"

"How do you get joy?" One answer was, "well, it comes down to a choice. You just choose joy like your attitude." Now wait a second, can you really "choose" joy? I know I've experienced joy in times of sorrow, pain and struggle, but I don't think I have ever chosen joy. The word "choose" can mean to want or desire something (which I can agree with desiring joy); but it can also mean to decide to do something (which gives a notion that the ability to create joy exists within you). Then, I realized maybe the question is wrong. Maybe the question should be, "How do you love God and others better?" Questions are great at showing the motivation behind what we want to know. A better question in this case might be, "Where does joy come from?"

Joy, I have come to find is happiness in Christ. This kind of joy is not found anywhere apart from Christ. So, can we really achieve or maintain joy? I guess my question: "can we really choose joy?" could be rephrased as: "Is joy an action that we take?" If we could choose to have joy apart from God, then we wouldn't need God.

When we ask how to have joy, we are seeking a goal of joy. Our goal shouldn't be to have joy. To love God and others, should be our goal. God should be the object or direction of our worship. Everyone worships. We either worship God or something else. We all worship something, but it can't be both God and something else. If joy is the goal to attain, then joy becomes our idol we worship. God will take that idol away to show the direction or motivation of our obsession. For instance, I can try to make sure someone doesn't stumble or struggle just so that they don't have a chance to fall into despair. What am I doing? What is my motivation? I want them to be pain free, free of hardship and struggle. Ah, this is my idol, to be free of pain or hardship. God will see the idol and put struggle in my path so that I have to choose who I worship (to expose the motivation of my heart). Is my heart directed towards the God in the Heavens who knows my every word, thought, deed and loves me intimately or is it my "pain-free" idol. Do I choose to trust God and obey Him amidst the struggle or do I sit in misery and despair where there is no joy or peace. When we are in misery or despair, all we see is the muck from ourselves and are hopeless. "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God." Romans 8:28 God may have placed that struggle there for our good. God is in control and He is the One who calms the storm.

Joy is a fruit of the Spirit (who is God). Therefore, joy is a by-product of walking in the Spirit. Even Christ had joy as He endured the cross, because He had the Spirit. Joy is a gift God gives to us as we trust and obey Him. We can have pain and sorrow and have joy as we trust God's character and walk in the Spirit.

I encourage you to read the Bible and study for yourself for I am only a woman who seeks truth and still am capable of error. Although, let this be an encouragement in your own journey with Christ.

We Heard Back from HUD...

Eric received a call from our realtor that HUD accepted our contract. Now, it is time to turn on the utilities and have an inspector come look at the house. We need to start pouring over magazines to see what we like or not for possible choices of flooring, walls and lighting in the bedrooms. We want to get the floors, ceiling scraped and bedroom walls done before we move into the house. Eric is predicting that our closing date will be at the end of October, and he will be gone the last week of October on a business excursion. So, he wouldn't be able to work on the house. Also, we will be gone the week of Thanksgiving which means no work as well to be done. Since our weeks are pretty full, any working on the house will be limited to weekends. I'm sure though, it will all be worked out in God's perfect timing. If we need to, assuming the plumbing, electricity, and A/C all work, we can sleep on the floor until we are finished with the bedrooms and such. Oh, I can't wait!! We will be living under construction, but what a time to savor. Well, I guess remind me later on this year when I am discouraged about being in a disaster zone that God does have perfect timing, that He is good ALL the time, and that this is a time to savor. Anyway... YEA!!!

Oh yeah, we will also be setting a date for closing sometime in the future. Please pray that we can get the Texas Teacher Lone that Eric had originally thought we could get. Our lone officer lady said that she wasn't sure that particular lone was compatible with the GNND program. I'm confident God will work it out though.

First Week of School and We Get a House!!

It all started in February. We bid on a HUD home through the Good Neighbor Next Door program and didn't win the bid. There were only two bidders, us and somebody-else. Our chance on getting a house seemed so close this time, but nevertheless it wasn't our chance that time. June rolls around, and I see this same house again on the market looking like no-one has lived in it. This is strange, since I remembered Eric talking about there being back-up bids in case of a bid falling through. Time goes by.

It's August and Eric and I start talking about that house I saw back on the market and was curious to know if it still was, but why it was. So, Eric after seeing who was in charge of the house decided to contact them to further investigate why the house was on the market again. There was a lot of confidence in the answers we got back. The winners of the bid in February had fallen through. So, they put it back on the market as they thought they were supposed to. They directed us to their bosses, HUD in Colorado, who also said they did what they were supposed to. We shared with them the law that Eric had so carefully found on the Internet that talked of the usage of back-up bids in case the first bid fails to close on a GNND HUD home. After a week of waiting, the very accommodating HUD person who we talked to had finished some of her own investigating and concluded that they were wrong and we were right. They wanted to offer the house to us just as it should have been in February. So, Eric called me to tell me we were offered the house and guess what day it was. The first day of school. That was two weeks ago.

We are very excited to have a home to call our own and to share it with others. It will be a lot of work before and after we are able to move in. We will definitely be feeling the pressure of our time being full since everything has started up again, being that of school being in session again, Eric continuing work full time at Encore Mallets, our Church at Home group meetings, my BTCL meetings, Eric's Lifeline and Plumbline commitments for running sound, worship team practice, church on Sunday, and other things that might creep up during the week. These are all things we want to do and love to do, although without the expectation of redoing and moving into a house. Nevertheless, we are blessed and excited to be able to use this house for others. As of now, we waiting to hear back from HUD for their acceptance of the packet of papers we signed. The next thing will be hiring an inspector and then closing on the house. Again, we are sooo excited!!!!!

"Why isn't it melting?!"

This was supposed to be garlic cheese bread inspired by Luigi's, a restaurant in Denton. Just so you know, the Pruett cafe has proven that hash browns do not melt like cheese. Don't worry, we scraped the hash browns off and found our mozzarella cheese that was properly labled and enjoyed wonderful garlic cheese bread topped with tomatoes.

Okay, I guess I'll do it...

Even though I don't consider myself to be a very competent writer or communicator, I have decided to try blogging. I have been so encouraged and inspired by others on their own blogs, that I thought maybe it was my turn to just share my life with others as well with my own blog.
So, here goes...