Unspeakable Joy in the Midst of Worry and Anxiety

Unspeakable joy...words that I long to not only hear but words that I long to actually live by.  Many people confuse the words joy and happiness to be the same thing, but they are not. Happiness is something that is reached by short term achievements, it is not lasting and is often filled by possessions, people, events, careers, etc. you get the picture. Joy...joy is something that is ever lasting, it is not attainable by short term goals, people, careers, or possessions.  Joy is attained by only one person and that is God.  Joy is a life style.     Our church has finished up a series on Rejoicing and today the sermon was taken from Philippians 4:4-7 - a passage that I am pretty familiar with, have heard and read many times, but not until today did it hit me like it did.  I wont attempt to tell you exactly what our pastor said, even if I did, I wouldn't do it near as well but I would like to share a few of the main words that hit me.
Being a Christian and not having joy do not go together. Wow! What?! For those of you who have read my previous posts, you know joy is something I have struggled with. I am still pondering these words as I write this, it's a lot to take in.
This last part was written 10 days ago...I was struggling to write so I left it at that..now fast forward 10 days..
Jan.22, 13
I have had 10 days to ponder those words I stated above - Being a Christian and not having joy do not go together.  I have played that over and over in my head, I have thought things like whoa..man for all of these years maybe I haven't been a real Christian, then God brought me to reality and reminded me of His grace and that always no matter what, He is molding and shaping us. However, I have been missing out on a huge thing that God has been trying to show me all of these years and that is His JOY!
These past 10 days I have been more intentional of seeking joy in my everyday life, and I wont lie it is hard, especially when for me, it's a struggle to keep my head above water sometimes.  I have been intentional about going to God right when I start to feel anxious and stressed, I have put on worship music during the most stressful times of the day such as getting the kids up, fed, and taken to school or the babysitters, fixing dinner, and cleaning - there is seriously something about listening to positive music that can keep seeping joy into ones soul.
I have made an effort to also share with certain people I can trust in my life such as my husband and a few of my good friends where I can say hey, "today I'm struggling, I'm stressed, anxious, please pray for me" or send a quick text and just saying it out loud, knowing I'm being prayed for at that very moment, and that I am not in this alone can make or break me.
I am currently reading a new book which God has most definitely placed in my life at a very very good time and no doubt it's a coincidence, Desperate Hope for the Mom that Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson. Holy cow is this book amazing. It is a book written from a normal everyday mom who struggles with finding joy, digging herself out of depression, and trying to find hope in being a great mom and wife of God.  Sarah and her mentor share their letters they wrote back and forth to support each other.  This book also talks about the importance of moms having rich and true friendships, finding a mentor, and being a mentor.  How cool that I found this book after I just wrote about relationships being one of my goals for this year!?
It is amazing to say the least of how God is truly helping me find my joy in Him over this past week or so.  Something that I am not good at is asking for help, and sadly asking for prayer.  One thing that I love about our church is that every Sunday anyone can go up during the last song to receive prayer from someone who has been trained to pray over people.  Every Sunday I am amazed at the boldness of mostly college students but others too that walk up and receive prayer.  I knew that the Sunday the sermon was on Joy that God was telling me to go up and receive prayer. I wont lie, I was shaking, I felt like I was going to throw up, and I even asked my husband if the thought it would be okay to ask for it, not that I needed his permission, but I guess I felt like a failure for even thinking about going up, let alone actually doing it.  His sweet words of encouragement and the squeezing of his hand on mine gave me the courage I needed to walk up there.  I felt  a sense of relief while I was being prayed for and a sense of Joy I guess you could say that hey, I can beat this thing and I can truly experience Joy in my life.
And God has been blessing me with so many instances, reminders, and truths through people, His Word, His songs, my kids, my husband over the past 10 days...I feel like for the first time in my life, I am beginning to experience His real JOY - Hallelujah!
One more thing and I promise I am done with this novel blog. One very good example of experiencing His Joy was tonight in my home. First, I walk in to find my sweet babies on the floor laughing at Oobi - my daughter laying on her stomach with my son sitting on top of her and would randomly bend down and stroke her hair and kiss her head = JOY and 2nd- we just got home from eating out since it was kids eat free at the mexican joint, I had already told my 6yr that when we came home she had to pick up the playroom and she happily responded okay!  Well, we arrived home it's time for a bath and bed and I reminded her that she needed to clean the play room and that she had 10 min. to do so..she started whining, talking back and I started to use my stern voice and then quickly decided..hmm, lets try a different approach and see what happens -  I found "Party in the USA" and "Love Shack" on my phone, grabbed her pink flashlight, threw on her "Jessie" cowgirl hat and began singing and dancing and told her I was putting on a concert for her while she cleaned!! She laughed, danced, and cleaned and we ended it with doing the Cha Cha slide = pure Joy for both her and myself! This will be a memory that I will always remember and hopefully she will too!
A song that has been playing over and over in my head - Joy, Unspeakable Joy - by Chris Tomlin
I pray you all begin experiencing His Joy as well!