Joy

Last Fourth of July I saw some people who I used to consider family and they considered me family - we spent holidays together, birthdays, hung out just for fun, the kids called me "Aunt Sherri"... it was the closest thing to a healthy family I had ever experienced and I considered it a true blessing that they treated me just as if I was an actual blood family member. However, after almost 10 years, these same people hurt me in ways that words can't even begin to express. When I saw them, my heart felt like it sank to my big toe, there was a pit in the middle of my stomach and my heart hurt. I was with some friends, one of them the youth pastor at our church (who although he is younger than me, I consider him my big brother) When I told him who I had seen he said, "Stupid people have no right to steal your joy!" It made me smile and I clung to that truth through the heartache I was experiencing. It helped me to remember where my joy lies. 

These verses, and many others like them, remind me that GOD is the source of my joy. No one can take that away from me. God is the one constant in my life... nothing anyone says or does can take the Lord and the joy he brings me away.

This morning, I saw some other people from this family as they were coming in to a store just as I was leaving (I hadn't seen them in over 2 1/2 years). We exchanged awkward hellos and I kept walking. As I walked outside I noticed the sky that had been so beautiful when I entered the store had filled with clouds and rain was pouring upon me... in a way I felt as if God was crying with me as my heart was racing and the hurt and pain suddenly became fresh as if it had all just happened. I called a friend and we talked a bit, I then proceeded toward home, made a pit stop at a book store (a little shop therapy never hurt anyone, right?) and as I was walking out of the store I remembered what Gabe had told me almost exactly one year ago.

Suddenly I felt a lot better, remembering where the source of my joy lies and that no one can steal that from me. I am so thankful tonight that I can rest in the arms of my Heavenly Father... I am Daddy's girl and because of that I am part of the best family EVER!

With a Grateful Heart,

Sherri