I have been thinking about joy a lot lately. The dictionary defines joy as “a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.” My study bible begins the definition of joy the same way but has a key difference: “a feeling of good pleasure and happiness that is dependent on who Jesus is rather than on who we are or what is happening around us.” It is the second part of that definition that is so important.

This past month I have finally gotten around to reading a book a friend shared with me earlier this year. The book is called Unshakable Joy and the author, Cameron Dodd, shares the story of her late husband Matt and how he exhibited joy in his living and his dying. In the introduction of the book the author mentions one of my favorite verses from the book of James: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:2-3). She later writes:

“I am convinced that one of the kindest things God can give a believer is a trial. Because here’s the thing: if your faith is never tested, how do you know if it’s real? That verse in James tells us that trials are not only designed to test our faith and prove it to be real, but they’re designed to strengthen it. Like a tree that produces stress wood only in strong winds, trials produce endurance in the believer’s faith.”

Count it all joy. Not just the happy moments; find joy in all things. Are my struggles and trials joyful in and of themself? Well, no. But I can find joy (and peace!) knowing that the hurts of this world are only temporary, and that they are shaping me and making me stronger. Trials, struggles, and suffering teach us lessons, to be dependent and trust God, and make us look forward to the joy that is to come in heaven where those things won’t exist. Until then, let’s find joy in the beautiful moments we get to experience here on earth that give us a glimpse of heaven.

So, how have I experienced joy in the past few weeks? Well, I have seen it every week of VBS. I have made a point of going to VBS one day each week, and you can always experience some joy there. These VBS teams have also had me reminiscing on my first trip here in 2015 (I first came on a summer VBS/construction team) and realizing just how much God has shaped and grown me in the past 9 years. Seeing how God has repeatedly shown up in my life again and again, despite my flaws and shortcomings, brings a great deal of joy.

Our summer teams in general have brought me a lot of joy. I have loved making new friends and seeing returning ones, laughing with the teams, and participating in some great conversations with team members, sometimes even sharing our testimonies. In amongst the busyness, these sweet moments make me feel so grateful that this is my life and job.

I experienced joy when my work trip became a road trip when my friends agreed to come along. Not everyone would choose to get up at 4:30 on their day off to visit a dental clinic 2 hours away, but these sweet friends did with smiles on their faces! These weeks of VBS have also been fun because that meant I got to see these sweet, smiling faces every day.

While I love having teams, I have also experienced a lot of joy in the past 2 weeks that we have had off. These weeks are always nice to catch up on rest and I can get a lot of computer work done, but they are also great opportunities to do some fun things. One day a group of us girls went to the pool, and the next day we celebrated Hilda’s birthday. Being able to spend time with these sweet friends outside of the typical work setting is always fun. Their friendships bring me so much joy. Another day a group of us went to the beach which obviously brought me tons of joy too! I have a total of 0 pictures from that day, mainly because I spent almost the entire time in the water (neither of those things will come as a surprise to anyone who knows me!)

One day that brought me joy in abundance started with a trip to a local waterfall. I have been there a couple of times in the past 2 years, and it is one of my favorite spots. I went with Euclides, Randy, Riley, and my pups, and we had such a great time swimming in the clear mountain water. At one point there was this bright orange butterfly that kept flying around my dogs and landing on their heads…just thinking about it makes me smile. On the hike back to the truck it started pouring rain. At times our feet were sliding around in the mud, and the majority of the time I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. I love adventures with my friends! The day ended having dinner with my dear friends Kailey and Hannah and her family. We do not all get together often enough so I treasure the times we are able to be together. Again, joy in abundance!

While these are bigger moments that have brought me joy, there have been a lot of smaller ones as well. From laying in the hammock to rooftop sunsets with my pups and FaceTime calls with family and friends, there are little moments of joy every day.

One final source of joy that I want to mention is worship music. This is something that always brings me joy, but there have been several moments in particular in the past month. Our last team had a time of worship before and after our morning devotional time which I loved. On the way to the dental clinic with my friends, and then a week later on the way to the beach, the truck was filled with the voices of my friends singing along to worship music with me. Pure joy. I will end this blog with 2 of the worship songs I have been listening to on repeat lately.

Prayer requests:

• Continued prayer for our team during this time of transition
• Smooth travels and successful weeks of service for our last 3 teams before summer break
• Health and safety