HaPpiNeSS ;-)

Lately I have been thinking a lot about happiness.  A few weeks ago our professor asked us to raise our hand if we were truly happy.  I was the only one who raised my hand.  He asked me why I was so happy and I said, "Just because I am!"  No one else in the class raised their hand; they said that they were sometimes happy and went on to list a lot of little things that made them unhappy.  I was shocked that no was else was as happy as I was.  I realized later on that the reason I am truly happy, all the time, is because Jesus is living in me and I have nothing to worry about!  NOTHING to worry about!  The professor gave us the assignment last Thursday to write a paper on any topic.  I chose HAPPINESS for my topic.  While researching this topic I found an article by Nuala O'Faolain called "Chasing the Evanescent Glow."  She writes,

"When I think about happiness, it is not an image I see, though I know the ads that show perfectly matched children hugging their toys or an impeccable couple strolling on the beach at an exclusive resort or a silver-haired pair holding hands beside a golf cart. My happiness moves. Where I live in the west of Ireland, often in the evening a bar of golden light blazes along the horizon of the ocean. Then small clouds, ragged and wistful, drift across the radiance and obscure it and thicken, and that's how the dusk comes. There's nothing I can do to make the gold arrive, and of its nature it dissolves. After dusk departs, the dark is not just dark. It contains the memory of what it was. And that's what I think happiness is like--radiant like the last of the sun, but always in the process of disappearing.
Because nobody can summon it up, nobody can say that it will never come again. But nobody can stop it from disappearing either."


Our happiness does not have to disappear.  In fact we are CALLED by God to be happy!  No matter if you are going through trials in your life or if everything is going fine, be happy.  If you are struggling with finding God's will for your life or if you know the path he has called you to take, be happy.  


Psalm 68:3 "But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful."

Proverbs 15:13 "A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day."


This one is my favorite:


Ecclesiastes 3: 12 "But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift."


Did you catch that- life is a gift. So make the most out of your circumstances and be happy!


~I laughed a lot with Jenna tonight.  We were both acting super crazy, as always!  We decided to make a sign for our friend Melissa.  We found this sweet quote to use and then when I wrote it on the sign I forgot to add a word.  We laughed so hard because Jenna colored in half of the sign before she realized that it was missing a word.  I laughed even harder though when I saw this mistake because it dawned on me that plan A failed.  I implemented a plan B and I think the sign ended up turning out pretty cute!  Melissa loved it!

Hanging the sign in her room for her!