Tag: Joy

Joy

A Summer of Joy! {Free Printable}

Rebekah Freed

The last few months have been rough.

Just as spring break started (which normally kicks off of the easier half of Spring semester), we unfortunately experienced the loss of one of our students at the university where I work. It feels impossible to put into words how that situation and many other challenges one after another in March and April have impacted me and my team.

It’s time for rest.
It’s time for healing.
It’s time for sunshine and slower rhythms.
It’s time for summer.
It’s time for joy.

It’s time for FUN!

With May beginning tomorrow and our school year officially wrapping up next weekend, I spent some time yesterday brainstorming what fun could look like for me this summer. Just last weekend I had a chance to share with a group of middle schoolers about how much we hear Jesus talk about joy. Sometimes I need to remember it for myself.

I fully believe that God delights when we delight.
Fun reminds us of Eden.
Fun reminds us of eternity.
Joy matters to Jesus.
And this summer, part of healing from the pain and trauma of a really hard year means chasing fun and joy.

I already had a few bigger fun things on the calendar or in progress to look forward to in the months ahead, but yesterday I decided that I didn’t want a single summer day to pass without some intentional fun.

I’m determined every day from May 1 through the end of July (and hopefully even beyond) to do at least one thing just for the sake of fun. Some might be bigger things to plan ahead for (like a pottery class I signed up for today.) But I imagine many days it will look a walk around the neighborhood with a friend or eating a bowl of ice cream on the back deck. Big or little doesn’t matter, we’re just on the hunt for the joy of Jesus.

I made myself a (fun) calendar to help plan out ideas or to document the joy being found. I figured I might as well share it with you as well.

Summer of Joy Calendar 11×17 [May-July Version]
Summer of Joy Calendar 11×17 [June-August Version]

One of my favorite authors, Annie F. Downs has a children’s book titled, “What sounds fun to you?” and that is my question to all of you today.

Obviously what sounds fun to one person may not to another but below are some of my ideas that might get you started to brainstorm your own list. And if you’re local, let me know if one of these things sounds fun to you too and we can do it together. (For real, I’d love to hang out… fun in community multiples joy!)

  • Kayaking/paddleboarding (already have my Lincoln Paddle Company Punch Pass!)
  • Eat ice cream (at least once a week)
  • Take a pottery or photography class
  • Game night with friends
  • Get a pedicure
  • Go to a Smash Room
  • Go on walks with friends
  • Plant flowers
  • Visit my family in Wichita
  • Hiking and picnics at 2 new state parks
  • Maybe meet up with KC fam in Omaha or Nebraska City
  • Summer Vacation
  • Hike Niagara Gorge
  • Hopefully continue the hunt for the best wings in Buffalo with my ‘daughter’ Elisa if we both can make it there at the same time
  • Hike at Fontenelle Forest
  • TreeRush Adventures
  • Spend at least 250 hours outside
  • Women’s Retreat at Platte River State Park
  • Thrifting
  • Stay a night at Two Rivers in a Caboose (maybe with my nieces?)
  • Swing on a swing
  • Invite myself along on adventures with friends’ families
  • Saltdogs Baseball Game
  • Enjoy my fire table out back at least once a week
  • Wednesdays in the Park with Church Fam
  • Wander around Target, Hobby Lobby, or other favorite stores
  • Spend time laughing and playing with my nieces, godkids, or friends’ kids
  • Find a new coffee shop in a little town on a rainy (or really hot) day
  • Read on the back deck
  • “Aunt Bekah Camp”
  • Shoot off confetti poppers
  • Explore a couple new restaurants
  • UPick flowers or fruit
  • Go to all different Farmers Markets
  • Take a walk downtown
  • And the list continues

I’m ready to have some fun.
Whose ready to join me!

Bekah's Heart, Devotional

Contentment and Longing

Rebekah Freed

I love my life.

It’s true.

I love the way I get to use the gifts and experiences and skills God gave me in my work each day.

I love all the little kids in my life including two nieces and six other godchildren along with their siblings, cousins, and friends’ kids who bring me such delight and joy.

I love my quirky little rental home that provides a space close to work to retreat and welcome others.

I love my church and the authentic, treasured community I found there with people who walk with each other in the highs and the lows of life.

I love the college students I interact with everyday. Seriously, they are incredible. They are insightful, caring, passionate, and insanely talented.

I love the friends and family who sustain, support, and sharpen me… and just like to hang out and have fun too.

The last few months I have noticed how content I am in life right now. There are deep blessings growing in and around me I could have never imagined.

I love my life.

And… I don’t.

That job I feel is such a good fit… sometimes it’s completely overwhelming and just too much.
Those kids… I don’t get to see them all near as much as I’d like and some days, intermingled with the joy of their presence, is a longing for children and family of my own.
My home… its quirks stand in stark contrast to the dream house I walked away from a few years ago in the process of moving to Nebraska and it has some space limitations that limit my ability to host people in the ways I desire.
My cherished church… is 35-40 minutes away from my home. This makes it hard to invest and connect in all the ways I’d desire and means that some of my closest community is not actually geographically close.
My incredible college students who blow my mind every day with how awesome they are… are also college students. Sometimes I wonder if they’re using a single one of their brain cells when they make decisions.
Family and friends… well, they’re human, and relationships are hard, and we hurt each other.

In this place of contentment, there is also deep longing and desire.

Until recently, I wasn’t sure what to do with this seeming paradox. At some points in life I thought that it just meant I must not actually be content. More recently, I felt sure that they could both be true at the same time, but it still didn’t quite make sense and I didn’t have words to explain it.

However, a few weeks ago I was in a situation where a section of Philippians 4 was shared multiple times over the course of an hour. I have no clue how many times I’ve heard this somewhat well-known section of Scripture throughout my life, but on that night it was as if I heard it in a new way.

… I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13 (emphasis added)

I always knew this section was about contentment, but I had never noticed the reality that Paul never said his contentment came without any longing or need. Rather he said that he was content in want… in need… in hunger. Right smack dab in the middle of longing, contentment was present. Contentment and desire are not opposites; they can exist right alongside each other.

As I prayed and pondered this for a few days, a fuller picture came into view. Those hard things, those things I wish were different, are not automatically signs of discontent. Sure, those things (or even “good” things) could lead my heart to a place to discontent. But the truer reality is that both the “good” and the “bad” list above are all together collectively my life, my story.

A content heart is not one that never longs for things to be better or different.
Rather, it looks at all of life–the joys and the sorrows… the hard days and the delightful ones… the pain and the relief–and says, “Somehow there is peace here.”

And like Paul, we too can learn the “secret” of this kind of life:

I can do all this… through Christ. (vs 13)

Left on my own, this heart would choose discontent and bitterness every step of the way. Yet, each day my Teacher shows up on the scene helping me learn, again and again: I have enough and am enough because He is enough.

Jesus, You do not give to us as the world gives. You give peace. You are enough. You are all we need. You satisfy fully. And yet, when we find ourselves with desires and longings and needs in this life You do not shame us. Instead, You invite us to show up with all of it and talk to you about it. And somehow, in that space You show us how to hold it all with deep contentment and peace that doesn’t even seem possible. Keep teaching us today, Amen.

Bekah's Heart

Choosing Failure

Rebekah Freed

The title of this blog post alone is enough to send some of our hearts racing and palms sweating (mine included). We live in a “Failure is not an option!” world, but I’m starting to think maybe it is. Even more, I sometimes wonder if it might be the BEST option.

We live in a go-go-go, get it all done, add one more thing culture. Success is often oddly defined by who got the least amount of sleep, pushed the hardest, and checked the most boxes. Failure then becomes anything less than perfect. But maybe there is something better than perfect.

A few days ago a woman at my church randomly mentioned a book she was reading in passing. We don’t talk much and I’m not sure what prompted her to stop and tell me about this book but it was just the reminder I needed. The title, “Present Over Perfect” is one example of why sometimes choosing “failure” might just be the best way to live life. Do I want to spend all my time time and energy perfecting this life or actually living it?

This month is crazy busy for me. I knew that heading into it and, at first, had a mindset to “buckle down and get through it.” As I thought about it more, that just sounded exhausting and joyless. In praying about that a few days ago, my prayer shifted to ask God to help me actually enjoy this month. Most events will stay on the calendar and the to-do list is still long, but my mindset has shifted to one that desires to be present this month. Some of that will happen by choosing failure.

At a conference in February I heard a woman speak about being “in the clear” and “out of the woods”. Normally, we feel we must be out of the woods before we can be in the clear. Her proposal was that we don’t have to exchange one for the other. What would it look like to be mentally “in the clear” even if we’re not “out of the woods” yet?

One of her talking points was: “Failure is completely inevitable, but fear doesn’t have to be.” Long, long story short, I’ve realized that failure really is inevitable (or at least something short of perfect). Failure will come, but perhaps by choosing it, I don’t have to live in fear. So as I head into this month, a month in which I know the boxes won’t all get checked, expectations won’t be met, and people will likely be disappointed, I’m intentionally choosing some things to “fail” at in order to succeed at the most important things.

I know I need to pass off some things at work or even just cross them off the list completely. I want those things to happen. Other people want those things to happen. But there are some tasks that are just more important to make sure happen.

As I prepare for surgery at the end of the month, it is important for me to take care of my body and soul. If I have to choose, I want to succeed at eating healthy, exercising, and getting enough sleep even if that means failing at keeping a clean house. (I’m pretty sure paper plates were made ‘for such a time as this’, right!?!)

On Saturday morning, I planned to spend 2 hours working toward a writing deadline. When that time came it was so obvious that the biggest need was to rest. So, I made the hard, but good, choice and probably will not meet that deadline.

Do I want to let people down? No.

Do I enjoy not following through on a commitment to myself or others? Of course not!

Do I use “failure is inevitable” as an excuse to slack off or just give up? Never.

But sometimes, a well-placed “no” or “not right now” leads us to a deeper, more fulfilling life than we could ever imagine. Not to mention potentially freeing others to do the same.

In the book I mentioned above, author Shauna Neiquist says: “People called me tough. And capable. And they said I was someone they could count on. Those are all nice things. Kind of. But they’re not the same as loving, or kind, or joyful.”

I choose joy.

I choose love.

I choose a spirit that is kind to those around me.

And, at least in this season of life, that means choosing a little failure.

66 in 52 Challenge

Reflections on Job: Yet I will trust Him

Rebekah Freed

Trust.

This is the word that rises to the surface as I read through Job.

It takes trust to fall to your knees in grief and worship there after receiving the news of the death of your children.

It takes trust to get up and move forward each day after that.

It takes trust to appeal to what you know about your God when those around you encourage you to give up and curse Him.

It takes trust to stay confident in your identity and convictions when those closest to you question you all the way.

It takes trust to appeal to God knowing how powerful He is but believing that whatever He could do to you would be better than giving in to what you know isn’t true.

It takes trust to humble yourself and admit where you didn’t live up to a perfect standard.

Trust.

Trustbelieves: “Even now, God in heaven is my witness and my protector.” Job 16:19

Trust remembers: “You, the source of my life, showered me with kindness and watched over me.” Job 10:12

Trust stays humble: “What you say is true. No human is innocent in the sight of God. Not once in a thousand times could we win our case if we took him to court. God is wise and powerful— who could possibly oppose him and win? When God becomes angry, he can move mountains before they even know it.” Job 9:2-5

Trust is not afraid to ask the hard questions: “Why should I patiently hope when my strength is gone?” Job 6:11 “Why is life so hard? Why do we suffer?” Job 7:1

Trust helps us remain faithful: “In spite of everything, Job did not sin or accuse God of doing wrong.” Job 1:22

Trust proclaims: “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!” Job 19:25-27

Trust stays focused on what’s most important: “Let God All-Powerful be your silver and gold.” Job 22:25

Trust does not depend on sight: “I cannot find God anywhere— in front or back of me, to my left or my right. God is always at work, though I never see him.” Job 23:8-9

Trust relinquishes perceived or desired control: “From the very beginning, God has been in control of all the world.” Job 34:13

Trust leans in when it doesn’t make sense: “Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him…” Job 13:15

Jesus, on the best days and the worst, may I trust You and You alone. Teach me to trust. Teach me the humility and peace, the patience and focus, the determination and proclamation of trust. Always. Amen.

66 in 52 Challenge, Bekah's Heart, Devotional

Reflections on Exodus

Rebekah Freed

It’s easy for me to read through a book like Exodus and kind of wonder: “How couldn’t they see it?!?” God’s provision, protection, and guidance are so clear chapter after chapter. From protecting Moses as a baby to grand things like splitting a sea in two or food appearing out of thin air day after day, God’s action on behalf of the Israelites is obvious. Yet, they complained constantly, thought going back to slavery would be better for them, made idols while God’s presence was still on the mountain in front of them, and blamed God instead of praising Him. How could this be? Couldn’t they see what God was up to?

But when I really stop to think about it… some days I’m no different. God performs a miracle, but we miss it because we were expecting something different. God figuratively splits seas or thunders from a mountain and the next day we’re so caught up in daily life we forget His power. We become immune to daily ‘manna’ falling from the sky in the form of food and shelter and friendships and His love and start to complain. I’d like to think that if I saw some of the miraculous things the Israelites witnessed I would never stop praising, but I’m not so sure I’d be any different.

One verse that struck me came right as God was enacting this great plan to lead them out of Egypt. Pharaoh had finally worn down and they were on the move. Passover had been instituted and God’s people had been spared the death of the firstborn that plagued the rest of the land. They had not yet come upon the Red Sea, but certainly had plenty to praise God for already.

“So Moses said to the people, ‘This is a day to remember forever—the day you left Egypt, the place of your slavery. Today the Lord has brought you out by the power of his mighty hand. … On this day in early spring, in the month of Abib, you have been set free. You must celebrate this event in this month each year…” (Exodus 13:3-5 NLT)

Reading this translation struck me… REMEMBER… YOU HAVE BEEN SET FREE… CELEBRATE! It goes on to explain how God wants them to celebrate but the party stops pretty quick as they approach the Red Sea and see that Pharaoh has changed his mind. The army is approaching quickly from behind and the body of water ahead has them trapped.

As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” (Exodus 14:10-12)

Suddenly they wanted to go back. Their current situation seemed worse than slavery, but that’s because they forgot the powerful mighty hand of their God.

Earlier this month I attended a conference. One of the hosts said this as he wrapped up one of our sessions:

Sometimes we feel like: “God you’ve led me to a place where there’s no where out.”
God says: “That’s only because you haven’t seen a sea parted.” – Ben Stewart

As I thought about this story that I’ve heard many times, as well as my own tenancies to complain and forget what God can do, I wondered if a key piece in all of it was the celebration God instituted the chapter before.

When Moses told the people to remember the day they had been set free, he said, “you MUST celebrate it”.  One way to read this Scripture would imply a focus on trying to please God and so we must praise Him because He deserves it. It’s true, God does deserve our praise, but I wonder if the “must” here is more about God knowing our nature. He “demands” celebration in a sense because He knows we need it. He knows that we MUST celebrate or we will forget. We must celebrate or we will worry. We must celebrate or we will feel trapped and see no way out. We must celebrate because we are free. Without celebration, we find our souls enslaved again.

I don’t know what celebration looks like for you, but find a way to party today. God has done everything to secure our freedom. May we never be slaves again!

2018-01-13 09.05.07

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Bonus Thought: Music is one way I choose to celebrate. Maybe this song by Ellie Holcomb can help you live free today!

So we will sing, to our souls
We won’t bury our hope
Where He leads us to go
There’s a red sea road
When we can’t, see the way
He will part, the waves
And we’ll never walk alone
Down a red sea road” – Ellie Holcomb “Red Sea Road”

 

Joy, Lent

Sunday Joy: I Choose Joy

Rebekah Freed

Joy is a facinating thing to me.  I don’t quite understand it and am thankful that it is a fruit of the Spirit’s work in my life and not something I have to muster up on my own.

But until recently I think that’s how I treated it…as something I must make happen.  People would say something like “choose joy”– a phrase I’ve heard, loved, and even used for years–but sometimes I wonder if my “choosing joy” really was more like “acting-like-nothing’s-wrong-and-putting-on-this-happy-Christian-face”.  (Which, by the way is not really joy at all.)

I knew I had experienced joy–true genuine joy–before and I knew I wanted more of it in my life, however I think a few weeks ago I finally understood it a little more.

In talking with a friend about a certain situation throughout the course of a day, my attitude had much improved about this situation from earlier in the day.  She commented, “You sound happy.”

I knew what she meant, but it still didn’t seem quite right. In fact I was anything but happy about the situation, and I suddenly realized, I wasn’t happy, but I WAS joyful.

I began to wonder if maybe “choosing joy” isn’t really a choice between “joy” and “sadness” as I had always supposed it to be.  No, more often than not, that just ends up with the fake smile plastered on your face.  Maybe, the choice is rather between joy and HAPPINESS.  Those are really the things that are at times in competition with each other.

As I talked about earlier this week in the post about giving up the pursuit of happiness, my definition of what will make me happy in life is first of all very unlikely to actually come through. More than that, the pursuit of happiness often ends up stealing my joy not fulfilling it.

Joy and sadness or pain or struggle on the other hand I’ve found often go well together. Because joy is not dependent on circumstances but rather on Jesus, our Joy-Bringer. And from what I’ve come to learn about this amazing God is that He loves to bring joy in EVERYTHING.

Habakkuk said it this way:

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-18‬)

So, as I told my friend the other day, at least in that situation: Happy? No. But by God’s Grace, I’m was filled with joy and for that I’m thankful!

Lent

Giving Up Looking at Other People’s Grass

Rebekah Freed

Okay, so I agree today’s blog title is a little weird, but stick with me.  How often have you found yourself in a situation where you were looking at what other people’s lives looked like and either:

 1. Wished your life looked more like their’s or

2. Were secretly thanking God your life doesn’t look like theirs.

We often hear the phrase “the grass is always greener on the other side” and find ourselves jealous over our neighbor’s “green grass”.  Or maybe, we’re the ones with green grass casting judgment on our brown grass neighbors.

While we may actually do this with lawncare habits, the list goes on and on. We compare jobs.  We compare homes.  We compare lifestyles and budgets. We compare hair and clothing. We compare marriages and parenting techniques.  We compare relationships. We compare the cleanliness of our homes. We compare and compare and compare.  And then we either end up hating our lives or hating God or hating our neighbor. 

Let’s give it up! 

While listening to a webstream of a conference a couple weeks ago, one of the speakers, Eugene Cho made this statement that I can’t stop thinking about:

“Maybe if I keep finding noticing someone else’s green grass, maybe that’s the Holy Spirit reminding me to water the grass I’m standing on!”

Maybe we’ve been so busy looking at everyone else’s grass that we haven’t even thought to water our own… To water our homes, our singleness, our marriage, our kids … To pour life into our workplaces… To give sustenance to our neighbors … To refresh our spirit. 

Today I give up looking at other people’s grass and choose to water the ground I’m standing on. 

From one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.  For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ (Acts 17:26-28a)

God, help us stop comparing and judging our lives with the people around us. Let us find joy in watering the places you have us standing in this moment, trusting that You have us here so that people, including us, can know You more. Show us practically what it looks like to invest more in watering the ground we’re standing on, to water our homes, workplaces, and communities. May contentment come as we see our own green grass! In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

  

Lent

Giving up the Pursuit of Happiness

Rebekah Freed

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

The American Dream, right?

While I am so thankful to life in a country with considerably more freedom than many in the world, I sometimes wonder if our lofty ideals actually make us sell ourselves short.  What I find most interesting about these “rights” found in our Declaration of Independence is that life and liberty are rights, yet only the pursuit of happiness.  

What I’ve come to realize is that it’s actually quite fitting, for happiness seems to often be one of those things that we love to pursue but never quite seem to attain.  The grass is always greener on the other side, right? (another blog post about this coming soon).  We pursue and pursue and pursue and often are left coming up short.

Oh how easy it is for me to get caught in this pursuit.  If this happens in my life, then I will be happy.  If I had that item, then I would be happy.  If I didn’t have to do this, then I would be happy.  

It never really seems to work out that way, does it.  So today, I pray I would be able to give up the pursuit of happiness and simply pursue Jesus. He provides something even greater…. He provides joy. And it comes with no “pursuit” involved.  It comes simply in abiding.  John 15 puts it this way:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. … By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love…. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (‭‭John‬ ‭15:4-5, 8-9, 11‬)

Teach me to abide, Jesus.  Teach me that You are more than enough.  Teach me to bear much fruit and bring glory to Your Father.  Teach me to be and make disciples. Teach me to abide in your love that Your joy may be in me and that my joy may be full!  Teach me to pursue You and You alone! 

  

Bekah's Heart, Devotional, Hope Restored

Repeat the Sounding Joy

Rebekah Freed

I have a lot of friends who are hurting this Christmas season. Broken…abused…challenged…confused. Each day as I am reminded of their situations and prompted to pray, one thing I pray for, is joy. We hear that word through many Christmas songs… especially “Joy to the World” but what about when joy doesn’t seem to come to our world.

While reading my Advent devotion this morning (which I LOVE by the way), I was a reminded of this great passage in the little Old Testament book of Habbakkuk:

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms,
And there are no grapes on the vines;
Even though the olive crop fails,
And the fields lie empty and barren;
Even though the flocks die in the fields,
And the cattle barns are empty,
Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord!
I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!
The Sovereign Lord is my strength!

Perhaps the friends on my heart might say it this way…

“Even though the job opportunities don’t blossom,
And I see no fruit from my labor,
Even though friends fail me, and family fails me, and I fail me,
And my home is empty and barren,
Even though my loved ones have died,
And my heart is empty,
YET, we can rejoice, we will rejoice, we must rejoice.”

And even when that seems impossible, I’ve been reminded that joy doesn’t come in any of those things. Joy comes from the God of our salvation, alone, no where else, no one else. That God is One who is always blossoming, never failing, abundant and full, never empty and barren.

And the joy comes when we shift our focus to Him… And, as the songs says, we “Repeat the sounding joy!”… When we choose consciously to remember and repeat, again and again, the Sovereign One who reigns and is in control even when our lives feel wildly out of control. That joy comes when we remember and repeat His love that comes to us in those moments of need, that came to us as a baby this Advent. We remember and repeat, to ourselves and to each other because we all need reminding. We find joy not in our circumstances, but in our cross-bound, infant King. And with that joy, comes HOPE! Hope that we are not forgotten in this crazy world. HOPE that gets us through each day. HOPE that whether better days come here on this earth or not until we’re in Heaven with him, they WILL come, just as sure as He came that first Christmas.

So even if your life is falling apart this Christmas… We can still rejoice! We can join with the “fields, floods, rocks, hills, and plains” to repeat that joy over and over and over again reminding ourselves and each other of the God who Saves, the God who reigns, the God who alone brings joy and restores our hope.

Joy to the World, the Savior reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat, the sounding joy.

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Bekah's Heart, Devotional

Worth Waiting For…

Rebekah Freed

Anticipation.

As we started a sermon series this past weekend on the return of Christ and the end times, I found myself pondering what things I find myself waiting for. Sure there are plenty of “waiting” times… waiting in line… waiting for a phone call… waiting for dinner to be ready or the pot to boil. But I was trying to think of things I await eagerly and with excitement.

One of the best examples I could think of actually occurs quite frequently. It’s a normal Tuesday morning. I’m ready for work… almost. I may still have my lunch to pack or shoes and a coat to put on, but it’s close enough that I add in some quick glances out my front door. The two preschoolers that live next door to me attend preschool at the church where I work. Because I normally go to work around the same time they go to school, most Tuesdays and Thursdays I get the joy of walking to school/work with them and their dad, a teammate at church.

As I make my final preparations to leave for the day, I eagerly await the moment I see the bundles of color and joy come into view. Stepping out on my porch, I never know quite what to expect. Some days it involves joyous screams of “BEKAH!!!” and little feet running up my driveway with hands stretched out for the biggest hug they know how to give. Other times the older one shows me her pretty dress and I get to tell her how beautiful she is or is just buzzing like crazy instead of talking as she shows me her bumble bee umbrella… joy in the midst of rain. The younger one is often distracted by sticks or snow or whatever else in the world may be along our short path to the building… that’s if he’s not falling over. I get to “see how strong” he is as he holds open the door for us at church. I hear about their adventures the day before or the color of the week in preschool. It’s an especially exciting day if I just happen to be wearing that color. I never know what to expect, but it always brings great joy.

And every Tuesday and Thursday I am reminded to also eagerly await another coming. We know it’s going to happen but we don’t know exactly when. We can’t just sit around and do nothing, but we can’t ignore it either. We don’t know exactly what that return of Jesus will be like but we can trust that it will bring us great joy… it’s worth waiting for!

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