Don't Worry, Be Happy

To my lovely lovely ladies...

Happy Wednesday!

I realized that I start many of these emails with "happy" something. Happy is a word that is so overused in the English language: "Happy Birthday", "Welcome to McDonald's. Do you want a Happy Meal?", "Fine. I'll do it. Are you happy now?"

Happy: 1 : favored by luck or fortune : fortunate (a happy coincidence) (omit 2)
3 a : enjoying or characterized by well-being and contentment (is the happiest person I know) (a happy childhood) b : expressing, reflecting, or suggestive of happiness (a happy ending) c : glad, pleased (I'm happy to meet you) d : having or marked by an atmosphere of good fellowship : friendly (a happy office)


I do think happy is more than luck or fortune. For happiness comes from a place of inner joy, contentment, well-being. It is when we choose to look at life and the fulfillment of the Lord as the well which all joy and happiness springs up, despite the fact we may be traipsing through the desert. For my friends, we ARE happy in His presence, in His will, in His grace.

Today...BE happy. Let happiness define your heart, thoughts, words, actions. Try smiling when you don't want to. Say "hi" to three strangers while passing by in the grocery aisles. Hug your babies more than normal. Answer your hubby's request with a happy response.

For we have NOTHING here on earth that will strip us from the happiness that comes with knowing the 80 or so years on this planet will not even come close to the eternity we will spend in heavenly bliss. When you put it in that context, why spend one moment in the muck of our circumstances? Fix your eyes on Him, and He will never let you go.

Proverbs 3:

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.

If you haven't read the entire 3rd Proverb, then do it now. You'll love it. You'll be encouraged. And your heart will be uplifted.

Looking at v. 5 and considering the "all" we talked about yesterday in Proverbs 29 in regards to a fool venting "all" her anger, but a wise woman standing quietly and holding it in...we now look at something we CAN give our all to.

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding.

What does that look like to you?

What does that require you to change?

What does that mean you have to let go of?

For me, I am challenged to live in the now.

God has blessed me today. So far, I woke up. My kids woke up. My hubby got to work safely. My hair worked. I had food to serve for breakfast. My car started and it had gas. My kids were laughing on the way to school. And so on.

We are compelled to take back that trust from the Lord when we start looking ahead in the future, aren't we? Isn't that when we lose our focus of Him? When the future looms so large in front of us, the answers aren't clear, the path is hidden, the "what ifs" are exhausting, we tend to take back that control from the Lord and try to figure it out on our own.

But ladies, that's not where He wants us. He doesn't want us in 2020, not even 2011, or even February 4th of 2010. He wants us present in TODAY. For every good thing we need, He will supply...for today.

And our worries, fears, anger, questions, frustrations, will do NOTHING to hurry God along. It won't change His course for our lives. It won't change His mind. It won't convince Him to take another path.

In fact, it might have the opposite effect. It will make His path harder as we drag our feet and throw our fits on the side of the road. (And yes, sometimes we are like toddlers demanding to have something go our way and refusing to see the wisdom in trusting our heavenly Father!)

We make our lives hard, don't we? We create chaos and doubt in our own minds, and we're nuts! At the very least, I am!

But reflect back on happiness...BEING happy. How can we possibly be happy when we're fighting God all the time? For we rob ourselves of His happiness, of His joy, because we are NOT living in the now.

So, today...take the road less traveled. Take the path that you would normal bypass. Choose to trust Him today, just for today, and He will prove you faithful.

And then tomorrow, we you wake up, trust Him again for that 24 hour period. Do this over and over again, until that trust overpowers your need for understanding, which is ultimately your need for control.

"Don't worry. Be happy." -Bobby McFerrin

Love you!