I have a confession to make

I truly do have a confession to make. It's not a secret. But it's a difficult confession to make. In spite of the fact that I have been seeking JOY--in spite of the fact that I know that God has given me more JOY than others--in spite of the fact that I have found JOY regardless of the difficult times I have been through. . .that does not mean that I do not still struggle to find JOY on a day-to-day basis--to CHOOSE JOY every single day.

I know. I know.

I have been studying JOY now steadily since 2009. That is almost 10 full years of studying one idea, one word, one Biblical concept. You'd think I'd have it ingrained deep in my very soul by now. And I do. At least, for the most part. 

• I have spent almost every single day for two and a half years straight, more than 730 days, posting in Facebook at least one thing that brings me JOY. 
• I have read every book on JOY that I can get my hands on--almost 50 books total.
• I have completed every Bible Study on JOY that I have found (I've included the count in my books).
• I continue to memorize Bible verses on JOY in as many translations as possible--and there are hundreds of JOY verses.
• I write about JOY in this blog.
• I have JOY t-shirts and other JOY paraphernalia--I even just bought a pair of the new Skechers Go Walk Joy Sneakers.

But I am not perfect. I am not Paul of the Biblical Paul. I do not find myself capable of singing for JOY as I am in my current difficult situation. Rather than singing songs of Praise, I find myself sobbing at every turn, screaming in anger at those I love just because they're close enough for me to project my anger onto, not caring who I hurt, not living, and sobbing a whole lot more. Worst of all, I am not CHOOSING JOY.

I have no desire to CHOOSE JOY. The pain goes so deep that JOY is the last thing on my mind. All I can think of is the hurt I feel. I am so sick and tired of the hurt. When a person has been through all that I have, when is enough ENOUGH? 

Huh, Lord? When is enough ENOUGH???? 

I AM NOT STRONG ENOUGH.

I do NOT Have enough JOY to handle all that is going on or that has happened.

I want to to be able to pull myself up by my bootstraps, CHOOSE JOY, smile, and show you that it can be done--that you CAN choose JOY regardless of what you have been through. That no matter what, God IS ENOUGH.

In my heart of hearts, I know that is true. And I know that I will eventually come to the place when I will be able to CHOOSE JOY again. But for right now, my heart just hurts and I don't have the energy to do anything more than rest in my Savior's arms. For now, I will let Him comfort me. I will cry on His shoulder. I will wait for His direction. I will let Him carry me because I don't have the strength to go any further on my own right now.

I know my Lord will use this time I am going through to help me grow in my faith and to be better used by Him for His glory, but I sure don't like this refining process right now. All I can do is pray that God is something super amazing for me on the other side because right now? I'm broken and JOY is the last thing on my mind.

What I really wish others knew about me is...

What I really wish others knew about me is...that I may walk around day in and day out with a huge smile on my face, telling those who ask that I am "Peachy," but the truth is that I am more often than not wearing a mask. Yes, my Lord has anointed me with His oil of JOY more than anyone else, but inside, my soul continues to scream in pain because 3 of my children are not here on this earth with me. Their absence is ALWAYS on my mind and in my heart and soul. 

James Isaac-3/17/99
Panya Ruth-11/10/99
Anna Rose-11/22/05 

Let's each Sing our own Song

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist: "The world will tell you how to live, if you let it. Don't let it. Take up your space. Raise your voice. Sing your song. This is your chance to make or remake a life that thrills you" (104).

Why is it that sometimes we need "permission" to live our lives as WE see fit rather than as everyone else sees fit?! My counselor has been telling me for years that I have to make my own life; I have to do what I need to do for Polly and quit worrying about whether or not what I do pleases anyone other than Polly--and God. (I feel that God's approval goes without saying, but sometimes I need to be sure I clarify that because without Him, I am nothing.) 

Part of what added to Shauna's anxiety, as she describes in her book, was her attempt at living to please everyone but herself--what SHE wanted in life. She told herself, or as I see it--she allowed herself to believe lies from the enemy, that if it was something that came available, God must have opened the door, so it was her responsibility to walk through it--every time.

I can relate!!! 

You????

I've been offered a job that I know I'd love, but yet I'm very happy and fulfilled where I am. Well, it must be from God, so I'd better quit where I am and accept the new job....right?!

Isn't that how we tend to think??? It's one way we have always felt the Lord telling us what He wants us to do, isn't it? I know it has been for me--many times in the past. Thankfully, most of the time the doors that have opened that I've walked through have been the "right" doors for me at those times of my life, but there have been a few times when I felt that just because such-and-such opportunity arose that it must be from God. Maybe it was, but that didn't necessarily mean I HAD to accept. 

For example, when my husband and I first moved to Missouri, I applied for jobs EVERYWHERE. The only type of job I could get, though--even though I already had my BS in English Education and was almost finished with my MA--was as an administrative assistant. I took what I was able to get and learned a lot from the jobs I had, especially about computers. But my heart was in teaching, so I continued to try to get a job as a teacher throughout the time we lived in Missouri. Then, within a week after making the decision to move back to North Carolina, I received a call from the college my husband was attending, asking me if I still wanted a position with them. As honored as I was that they finally called me, I knew in my heart-of-hearts, deep down in my soul that moving back to North Carolina was the best choice for my husband and me.

It was difficult, but I turned down the job offer.

I believe that God allows opportunities to open up for us, but He leaves it up to us as to whether or not we accept/receive it. I don't believe it's disobedience to Him and what He has for us if we go in a different direction. My God is a God of free will. He wants us to CHOOSE Him above ALL. When we choose one door over another, He honors us for our decision because we took the time to seek Him and because we work as unto Him and not for ourselves. 

Yes, sometimes we realize that we made a mistake, but most of the time, I believe that God simply wants us to do the thing that He has placed in our hearts to do. He wants us to SING OUR SONG. He wants ME to sing MY OWN song. My song is probably different from your song. That doesn't mean we can't both sing our songs. It simply means that both CHOOSING to SING!!!

I LOVE to sing even though I may not have a voice others want to

listen to. I read a book once that talked about how we don't want to come to the end of our lives with our song still in our hearts. So even if your song is different from my song, let's join our voices in song and God Himself will take care of the harmony!!!!

I DARE you to DO the THING that God has called you to do!!!

Affirmations of Joy

In my study on JOY over the past several years, I keep reading that having JOY is a conscious choice we must make. Yes, God gives us JOY in Him, but when we battle depression or when we are simply battling, experiencing His joy is next to impossible. We find ourselves nesting in our sadness, unable to go beyond the hurt: Job 6:10-11 (NLT), "At least I can take comfort in this: Despite the pain, I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
11 But I don’t have the strength to endure.
    I have nothing to live for."

We still love our Lord and Savior, but we simply "don't have the strength" to go on. Like Job, we feel that we "have nothing [left] to live for."

It is in these moments when JOY is as hidden as the end of a rainbow. We long for JOY--to be released from our deep sadness, but it wraps tight around us with the strength of gravity. We are powerless against it.

I have been in such a state for longer than I care to admit. Suffice it to say that 10 years is a low estimate.

As God has been healing me over the past year or so, though, I have felt the power of the sadness lessen more and more. I purposefully began to CHOOSE happiness--JOY. I began by keeping a Gratitude list in a little red moleskin journal that I carry in my purse with me. Anytime I thought of something I was grateful for, I wrote it down in my little red book. It was not easy as I often even forgot that I had that little red book. After a while, though, I found myself writing in it more and more. I was finding it easier and easier to write down things I was grateful for.

I found an online group called "The 30-Day Pollyanna Plan." The woman who operated that Facebook group challenged the participants to post something she (or he) was GLAD about each day for 30 days (or longer). I did that consistently for 30 days. While I no longer post specifically to her group, I continue to keep up with the posts of the group.

I continued to post, on my own, things I was GLAD about for the next year or so. Something whenever I thought of it. Sometimes it was one thing. Other times it was several things.

From there, I moved to writing 5 things positive about my day--every day. I posted most of those on Facebook for several months. I had made a very conscious decision to be more positive at work. I was finding that I was doing an awful lot of complaining, but not much was changing. I made a CHOICE to accept what was and to begin being positive whether I liked what was--or not. I called it #ThePollyAnnaPlan.

As 2015 came to a close, I wanted to change things up a little bit, so I went back to writing one positive every day. I decided to ask the question, "What brings me JOY?" And to answer that every day--on Facebook. I call this one #ThePollyAnnaJOYPlan. 

Being positive or finding something to be Joy-full about every single day is NOT easy. Even after doing such things for a full year and then some, I still have days when I just do not FEEL Joy-full, no matter what I do or say. But I have made a CHOICE to be positive and to be JOY-full--regardless. As the days pass, I am feeling the difference--in myself, in my interactions with others around me, with my responses to difficult situations, buy even more wonderful are the differences I'm seeing in those I interact with daily. 

God is using my CHOICE to make the difference. I pray that I continue to be a light for Him, showering those around me the JOY only He can give.

Works Cited

Shen, Jean. "Series 1: Healing of Wounds of the Bride and Growing Intimacy with the Lord." Invitation to His Garden. Prophetic Art. Web. 6 Sept. 2014. <http://www.jbrushwork.com/html/paintings.html>.

I Choose Joy

Even from the first when my depression started to get the better of me, I have hated the way it made me feel.  Yet at the same time, there was some measure of comfort in my depression.  Because I carried it with me for so long before seeking help, it became my new normal.  For a long time, I was

not sure I wanted to quit being depressed because I had forgotten how to live a life in the fullness of God’s joy and peace. 

I also wanted, for the longest time, for SOMEONE to come along, pick me up, dust me off, and fix me—tell me what I needed to do to quit being so depressed.  Even when I first started seeing my counselor, as I would leave my weekly sessions with her, I wondered how and why she had not admitted me to the local mental facility rather than let me walk out the door.  I did ask her during a recent session why she had not admitted me; she said that she had seriously thought about it, but the bottom line was that I had not asked for it and she did not like to admit people who did not ask for it.

Those were powerful words because if I had known that, I would have asked her to admit me.  I was lost in more ways than one and not only did I not know how to get un-lost, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to. 

More than anything, her words made me realize that while I was getting help through counseling as well as other sources (seeing a doctor on a regular basis, getting prescription medications to help with the severe depression, seeing a chiropractor, and so on), I could not depend on these doctors, etc. to make me feel better….to make me better.  They could only help give me the tools that I needed to be able to make a choice of whether or not I wanted to get better.

It all boiled down to the simple fact that I, Polly Anna, had to make a choice that I wanted to get better, that I no longer wanted to allow depression, anger—rage, actually, low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence to rule my life. 

So, okay.  I made the choice that I no longer wanted to live that way, but then came the “Now what?!”  I had no idea where to go from there.

I admit that I found it strange—I still do—that me, a woman who has been saved, a Christian, for most of her life (since I was about three or four years old) had no idea where to begin finding my way out of the deep, dark, cold cave I had been in for so long.  I only knew that I needed to get up and start moving.

Thankfully, with the help of my medical team (most of whom are Christians) and the Holy Spirit, I gradually began to see a change in my whole being.  There is no one thing that I can put my finger on that has led me at least to the entrance of my cave.  I will always be near my cave.  It is my home now.  At least I no longer have to live in the deepest, darkest, scariest recesses of my cave.  I can live in the opening of the cave; I can even leave it for longer and longer periods.  Because of the tragedies I have suffered in my life, my cave will always be my home.

My counselor and I talked about what started me on my path to healing.  I said that it was a combination of many things that have happened over the past two or three years.  While she agreed, she also said that she believes, more than anything, that my healing truly began when I started studying Joy in depth.

One of the first things I did when I realized that only I could change the horror of my life was to begin reading my Bible in earnest and doing one Bible study after another.  I have always read my Bible on a consistent basis and I have memorized a lot of Bible verses, so that wasn’t something I had to learn to do.  I had, though, gotten slack in my Bible reading and Bible studies simply because I was too depressed to care to bother with it.  I knew I needed to get back to reading my Bible on a daily basis, so I chose a Bible reading plan and got started reading my Bible every single day.  Then I found a Bible Study on Joy—I liked the pretty pink cover and it was by the Women of Faith, so I knew it was a good study—and began serious Bible study on a daily basis—again. 

I did not make it all the way through my yearly Bible reading plan that first year, but I did make it through eight months.  Rather than beat myself up over it, as the new year started, I chose another plan and started again. 

As soon as I finished my first Bible study on Joy, I found another one on Joy and went through that one, too.  At first, it was not conscious on my part that I was doing a focused study on Joy, but after about three or four of them, I realized that I was doing a word study.  Then I began to take it deeper.

I searched for every use of the word Joy in all of my favorite Bible translations.  I marked each verse in my different Bibles.  I found that I associate the word Joy with the color pink, so not only did I mark my Bibles in pink ink or pink highlighters, but I even bought a couple of pink Bibles in the translations I wanted to work with. 

I studied the definition of Joy.  I took it a step further and marked the variations for the word joy in all my Bible translations as well as studied the definitions for each:  rejoice, enjoy, glad, happy, happiness, etc.

Eventually, I began noticing songs and poetry that focus on Joy.  I now have files of the lyrics to songs about joy as well as copies of poems.  That naturally led to pictures about Joy as well. 

And then one day when I was sitting quiet before the Lord, He showed me—again, Psalm 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9—“You love justice and hate evil.  Therefore God, your God, has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on you more than on anyone else.”  I said, “I know, God.  You showed that to me a while ago.  I really love those verses.”

And the Holy Spirit said, “No.  Read them again.  Slowly.  With your heart.”

“Ok, Lord.”

The words began to sink in to the deepest recesses of my soul.  God wanted to pour out His oil of joy on ME more than on anyone else [I know]. 

Wow.  “But I’m so unworthy, Lord.  I’m still so depressed.  I’m still so angry and even full of rage.”

“Let me handle it.  Just trust me and let me fill you with my joy.”

I wish I could say that the infilling of God’s anointing oil of Joy filled me immediately and that my depression, rage, and anger faded away as the sunset, but the truth is that I am still working on it.  I still have days when they rear their ugly heads and try to take me back down.  At least now I know that the enemy is trying to keep me from receiving God’s full anointing oil of joy and I am better prepared to deal with the challenges. 

I have a long way to go, but I know that God will not give up on me, so I can’t give up on myself, either.

I share all of this with you to say that no matter where you are in your journey, it is important to get quiet before the Lord and let Him reveal a verse, a song, a poem, whatever it is He wants to give you that He has for you.  The scriptures (the anointing oil of joy) God gave me more than likely will not be what He has for you.  Maybe He will give you the same verses, but I very seriously doubt it.  In my studies on joy, while others have found Joy to be a focal point of their lives and studies, I have yet to read about someone else who received these exact verses from the Lord as I have.

God works in His own way with each individual as is best for each individual.  What I need from Him is not necessarily what you need from Him.  He gives each of us exactly what we need when we need it, but we have to be willing to listen as well as be obedient to what He wants of us.  God is not going to conform you to what He has for me or anyone else; He wants you to be you and your ministry to be your ministry.  In order to find that ministry, you have to find the source of your ministry.

Think of it as your mission statement.  Your life verse.  The thesis (point) of your own life.  Your purpose.  God uses our own personal experiences, quite often our tragedies, to help create our individual ministries.  I am working on mine and I share all of this because it is my heart’s desire to see you find yours.

After being depressed for more years than I can count, I can tell you in all honesty that the natural high I get from allowing God to anoint me with His oil of joy is greater than any drug, any shopping, any food, or anything else I have attempted to find joy in.  It all boils down to the simple fact that I am finally working on being in His will and following the leading of the Holy Spirit rather than believing the lies Satan has fed me.

I CHOOSE to be a woman anointed with God’s oil of joy—more than anyone else!  I receive His anointing oil of Joy!