Joy!

I’m going to be honest.  If I wrote this six hours ago, this would be a totally different blog post.  With a totally different mood and tone.

The beginning of this week felt absolutely crazy.  With a photography project and an Econ midterm on Monday, then a design and nutrition midterm on Tuesday, I felt absolutely brain dead by Tuesday night.  Just ask my teammate I was studying with for my last midterm Tuesday night.  I combined the words “vernacular” and “phonetic”: phernacular.  That’s not a word. JSYK.  But now that it’s Wednesday (technically Thursday).  I’ve had a little bit more time to rest, and my brain has also had a little bit of a break… at least from thinking about school.

My knee has been healing really well.  And I’m also officially walking without any crutches!  My mom saw me last week, so she can attest to the fact that I’m bouncing back from this surgery significantly better than the last time.  Maybe it’s because I was in better shape and I’m stronger than I was going into the 2009 surgery.  Or maybe it’s because I didn’t have to re-drill holes.  Or maybe I’m just tougher.  Whatever the reason, I really feel pretty good.  And I’m extremely thankful for that.

But here’s how my mood made a complete 180 in about four hours.  When I was originally started writing after practice, I was discouraged.  I won’t go into too many of the details, but I was disappointed in myself and in the thoughts (mostly of doubt) that were going through my head.  But after my night class got out, I met up with my teammates, Taryn and Kailyn, and my mood already started to brighten.  Just being able to talk and joke with them, I felt like I didn’t have to worry about all the thoughts running through my brain.

Then the three of us went to AIA, where the speaker talked about the fruit of the spirit, specifically joy.  Perfect, right? If I ever needed a reminder about where joy comes from, it was right then.  The speaker encouraged us to protect our joy, because in life, struggles and hardships will try and steal that away from you.  But God is still good, and our joy can still be found in Him.  He will protect me.  He will protect us.  And in Him, we can hold on to the joy in our life.

John 16: 33 “I have told you these things,

so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the world.”