Ohhh JOY!
If you do not know my friends and I, we are in almost every way CRAZY! We are beyond bizarre. We have our quirks and emotional hang ups. Some days we fight like family. Other days we giggle like a pack of teenage girls. We push each other daily and constantly try to seek Heaven. But my favorite thing about our friendship is that through it all, through everything, there is at the heart of our friendship a spirit if JOY! And maybe better put a JOY from the Spirit.
We in our hearts have the most evident joy experienced by following the Spirit. And committing our lives to following GOD. Yes, it does not mean that everything that happens in our lives is so good. But, it does mean that we recognize and love in a manner that we know everything that happens in our lives is a result of God's love for each of us.
This past weekend some of my best friends and I went to a conference with a worship team/church from Australia that we love. We experienced the weekend which included talks and worship, as we normally do, soaking it all in and embracing God's love.
But by the time the afternoon session started we were all a little stir crazy! We had been sitting all day and had all skipped lunch as the lines were too long at all the near by restaurants! But regardless, we were ready for whatever God had in store! We listened to a powerful and passionate speaker sharing about how God moves in our lives. And we were all really enjoying and growing from the talk, but those darn random giggles always seem to sneak in! And sometimes we found ourselves all snickering together about something she said or something one of us did.
Suddenly, we found ourselves trying to contain our laughter after my brother dropped his gum on the floor and proceeded to put it back in his mouth. He may be slightly more weird than the rest of us, but it was just such a him thing to do and lack of sleep, mixed with hunger, mixed with restlessness, and perhaps a little crazy had us cracking up quietly to ourselves. My friend who missed the whole thing looked at us wondering what had us rolling in silent giggles. I tried to quietly explain to her what happened but before I could even spill the beans the lady behind us turned around and gave us a quite harsh "shhh, shhh, shhhing".
We immediately stopped all talking. And I kind of wanted to cry. I hate getting in trouble more than anything. But then I became slightly annoyed. People around us had been talking and responding to the speakers and shouting out all weekend. And yes, we were giggling. And yes, I did try to tell my friend four words in the midst of the talk, but was it really necessary for her to turn around and reprimand us? I do not know maybe it was, maybe not but I feel like people are constantly trying to shut down our joy. A happy moment of joy, was squashed by this woman's rude reaction.
And the thing is, this happens to us all the time. One Saturday we all woke up to go to mass! As we were leaving, we greeted friends and fellow parishioners quietly. Older adults all around us greeted their friends just as loud if not more loudly than us. But I think sometimes we get knocked simply because we are young, and some woman found it necessary to tell us, "Shhh! This is a Church!"
And I guess that is what confuses me the most about all of this! Since when did joy and church become seperate? Shouldn't our churches be the pinnacle of joy? If I cannot express my joy and giggle with glee or sing out the praises of my God in church than where can I? Why are these people making it seem like we have to contain our voices, our actions, our lives into some cookie cutter boring box? We may be loud, and at times slightly obnoxious, but I think we reflect the most obvious expression of His love, the joy in following and knowing Him.
A friend once gave us some solid advice, she said, "God wouldn't want us to be quiet!"
In moments when I find myself devastated by strangers who try to squash my joy, I have to remind myself of the above. Not because every moment calls us to sing out and dance and be completely filled with joy, but because I think so often we can let people, strangers, friends, family, stomp on the Spirit that is filling up our hearts.
Joy is a funny thing. We search for it. But when others find it, we tend to think they are crazy, or too loud, or annoying! But do not let the "Shhhing" ladies of the world stop you from knowing the JOY of a life lived all the way for Christ! People might try to stop you from following Him or tell you to be quiet, but what do they matter anyways! God does not want us to be quiet! He wants us to shout and sing and live in JOY because of all that He has and will continue to do of each of us!
Today, be God's JOY in a world that is telling you to be quiet!
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