Day 2 of this month long challenge writing about joy and I’m already struggling a bit.
I thought back through my day to see what I could write about and while there were little moments of joy (like getting a piece of mail from my awesome goddaughter!) that was summed up in a nice Instagram post, not really blog-worthy.
Yet, looking a little deeper at my day I realized a type of joy that’s hard to describe. I don’t know if I’ve very noticed it before. The best word I seem to find to explain it is “unexciting” joy.
Often the first thought of joy is happy, exciting, smiles, and laughter. It’s the “wear a sparkly prom dress to work” kind of situation.
Today didn’t include much laughter or sparkles. It was actually kind of a busy, boring day.
But it wasn’t a joyless.
The joy was present in feeling understood and listened to by a colleague, in time praying with one of my RCs, in digging into some data that I hope tells me more about my students.
I cherished the joy in being proud of myself for forcing my body out the door to go for a walk when I would have rather crashed on the couch.
I experienced the contentment aspect of joy when God provided wisdom and discernment in a difficult conversation.
I uncovered other people’s reasons for joy mentioned in my daily Bible readings.
I fought hard for joy when something didn’t go my way.
I shared joy with a friend when she sent me a picture of a rainbow.
I’ve never really thought about it before but “unexciting” joy is the sustaining kind. It steadies us. It goes unnoticed, yet is vital.
It can’t always be prom dresses and confetti poppers. Sometimes it’s a simple caring act from a stranger or a knowing glance from a friend.
We get to the end of a day and our shoulders settle, the corners of our lips curl up ever so slightly, we close our eyes, and exhale.
This too is joy.
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