'Joy' comes in many forms....

Thursday morning as I readied myself for the first day of "Moms and More," I was feeling nervous, unworthy, unprepared..the usual 'first day' emotions. Running through my mind was a myriad of thoughts like, "was I supposed to decorate my table? Is it in the fellowship hall? What if I don't know any of the ladies? What should I wear? Wasn't I supposed to be there early? oh, bad hair day..! Why am I doing this?" Does any of that sound familiar to you?

I took a deep breath & just ask the Lord to calm me and take my thoughts off of myself. Then I started to pray for the women that would also be getting ready, all over town. I just ask Him to protect all the women so they would arrive safely, that all the young children would be cooperative & willing, that the moms of young ones could be ready & not too rushed. I prayed for the leaders, for Shannon, as I figured she was up very late 'thinking.' I asked Him to bless the morning, that His work could be accomplished through many & that we could glorify Him in our attempts to bring this new ministry to fruition.

It is amazing what happens when we take the focus off of ourselves and put it onto others.

What a tremendous JOY it was for me to see all those ladies coming into the fellowship hall to gather! After meeting up with the ladies who would be at my table, some old friends and some I was meeting for the first time, I knew that our faithful Lord had set a time in motion for us to meet and be together. We laughed, talked, ate and cried. We sat with one another in the presence of our Father and allowed our lives to intersect for just that time. It was good. It was definitely joyful. Isn't it awesome how our Father in Heaven knows what we need before we do?

It was pure joy for me to see all those lovely women hugging, sharing and enjoying some essential time together in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ! He must have been smiling!

I think we are going to experience some great times of growth, understanding, wisdom, learning, stretching, exploring, worship, edification, just being ourselves with sisters in Christ and I do think we will be experiencing some great JOY!

I look forward to seeing all of you next time!

Love & Joy..........Janice ♥

Comments.....

..through the years during the ups and downs of normal day to day living, I've had to go in search of 'joy.' Many times it seemed elusive to me and exclusive to others. I'd wonder, "why can't I be happy, satisfied, successful?" In the midst of my search, I found 'joy' lurking within the turmoil combined with all the other emotions I had previously sent packing, like they were being stirred within an enormous pot at the root of my soul. Once I identified that 'joy' came without conviction, that my Lord & Savior had given it to me freely with His gracious love..it became so abundant to me that even in the midst of heartache I could feel the 'joy' welling up inside of me. It is puzzling how we can actually be in pain but feel joy at the same time. Of course, we are women and capable of so much..! God knew what HE was doing when He created Eve with all her ways, complex yet simple. I now look for 'joy' in each day. It's like God has iced a special cake for me each day and I get to take a bite cut especially for me. I'd like to share my cake with you today! ♥

Janice Hankins
Moms and More Life Group Leader


I love what you said! And I love cake...Here are some of my favorite lyrics: "Can't steal my joy! They did not give it, they can not take it away." "They" being anything other than the Lord. He supplies our joy!

Bronwyn Crawford
Emcee for Moms and More