From the desk of Grace Lange,
It is exactly 6:43am on a Thursday morning when I am writing this blog.
And you might be wondering why I am working so early in the morning, so let me share a little story with you.
MY CRAZY LIFE
For over 2.5 years now I have been traveling from Fargo and back to my home town almost once or twice a week sometimes.
I have become exhausted and completely sick of living out of a suitcase, and sometimes it even leads me to be angry and cynical towards others. My boyfriend, Sam, is a dairy farmer in my hometown, and if you know anything about farming, you can’t move a farm!
So here I am continually making the 160 mile drive, because of love… crazy I know!
Anyway, I woke up early this morning, and I was sitting and reflecting as I was waiting for my coffee to be brewed and I started to think.
I know that being angry or seeing the negative part of it all will do me no good. It will only make things worse and that anger will eventually turn into sadness and depression if I keep this up.
So I started to remind myself of all of the good things that I have in this life…
And I started with the small things.
Honestly, when things are not going the way you planned or it is really hard for you to be grateful, sometimes thinking of the little joys can be just as hard.
But I tried anyway, and it made me realize that there are so many little things in life that bring me joy. Here is a list:
- My kitty coffee mug that smiles at me every time I take a drink.
- My purple polka dot pjs that were handed down to me from my late Great Grandma Leona.
- Seeing a little baby calf born on the farm.
- Trying a new coffee shop at least once a month in a surrounding small town.
When life gets hard or things seem out of your control, the simplest thing we can do is pray, and thank God for the little joys.
There is always something to be grateful for, even when it seems like there isn’t.
And there is always joy to be found even in the darkest of places.
What brings you joy?
I challenge you to pause and see the little things today. See the joy, because it is there.
ANOTHER THOUGHT
Another note I want to make is that there are so many outside factors in this life that are going to try and steal your joy.
For instance, the first thing my mother said to me this morning was, “Grace, the world is going to hell.”
She had spent her morning working out and watching the news.
Now… I would advise you to not start your day watching the news, because that is surely going to steal your joy.
The world is filled with nasty, incomprehensible things that literally don’t make sense to us… But I believe that it isn’t up to us to be able to understand.
It is up to us to stay joyful and pray.
God is real, and God is still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we need to turn to him in this uncertainty and to help us remain joyful.
Joy comes from the Lord!
LAST THING:
If you know anything about me, you know that I love Mother Teresa, and I could quote her all day long… so I wanted to end by sharing this quote with you:
Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. – Mother Teresa