Joy

I was able to take a day off and sit down to read and meditate on the Lord's word. What made it better was that I could do this with my mom, in the comfort of my own home. She has been here for a little over a week and it has been such a blessing to have her here. She has been able to cook, clean, give hugs when needed, support me, and see everything I do in my daily life. She has also had the blessed opportunity to come to 2 other villages with the basketball girls and me. That is not always the case when people come out here to visit. It actually was amazing to see the Lord's hand in all of this month. My mom and I had planned for her to come this month to see 2 home basketball games that were scheduled. However, they both had been cancelled and had been replaced with 2 away games. Well, I will tell you that I was not joyful, happy, or pleased with this. She has already bought her ticket and it would have been too expensive for her to change. So, we made the best of it and were going to enjoy all the time we could spending time with each other even if I would be away for 3 weekends while she was here. Needless to say, God had better plans than I thought. I was able to have her watch our games in Newhalen as well as Newstuyhok. She was even my assistant coach this past weekend. She was able to be right there with me and we have not missed one day of spending time together. I remember praying about her trip here and that the Lord would be in our time together. He blew my expectations and frustrations out of the water. I see now that he had my back and knew exactly what he was doing which doesn't surprise me because He always knows what He is doing. So as we sat there, we spent time together in God's word discussing the topic of joy and 

what it looks like in our daily life. Here are a few verses and concepts we looked at. 

Romans 5:3-"Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

Rejoice: to be full of joy

Base Word: joy

Prefix: re means again and again

"You experience joy during or after difficult or hard times."

Joy is a fruit of the spirit. It has to be decided just like every other fruit of the spirit. 

Galatians 5:17-For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want." 

"God's Holy Spirit produces joy" Our perspective needs to change in that joy does not come automatically and we lack joy because you don't ask for it. 

Galatians 5:22 "The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." As I sat there thinking how often I have been told "love"  is a choice, I guess I have never paid attention that every other fruit of the spirit has to be chosen as well. Granted, I do not naturally choose the fruit of the spirit and the reason goes back to Galatians 5:17. 

"Circumstances seem to surround us with fog that sunlight cannot penetrate. yet faith is the way we get above the valley-the means by which we "set our hearts on things above" (Colossians 3:1). As we do, the Lord enables us to rise above our circumstances and find courage and calmness for the day. As  the apostle Paul wrote, "I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances" (Philippians 4:11). We can climb out of our misery and gloom. We can sit for a time on the mountainside and through Christ who gives us strength, we can gain a different perspective. Before we can fully find joy, I think we need to come to a place of contentment.

Although we can't always see God or what He may be doing, may we rest in His love for us.

I challenge you, along with myself, to find joy in our circumstances this week. Actively seek the Lord and ask for His help, guidance, strength, and direction in finding the joy even in the smallest of things. You can choose to have joy when everyone around you may be choosing sadness, anger, frustration, hatred, or anything that is the opposite of joy. When we stand before the Lord, we only have to answer about actions, motivation, thoughts, and words we have said or done. We will never have to answer for how someone else conducts themselves. So, I hope you all have a blessed week and thank you for taking time to read my blog. I hope you may find joy this week.

The Aftermath

Over the past month it feels as though life has been like a whirlwind. Just a month ago basketball was underway, masters classes, and school had started up again. I usually don't make or take the time to process through everything that goes on in a week, let alone a day. However, one of the benefits of traveling with the basketball team is the time we spend in the air getting to and from our games.

Last week was the beginning of trying to make sense of all the pain and hurt we experience in this world. In the course of a week I talked with a friend who had lost two coworkers, a couple people went to the ER that I knew, along with all of that, I attended a funeral of a 5 year old boy from a village in our school district. It kind of all hit at once which made it difficult to sit down and process all the emotions and feelings I was experiencing. I was able to support my friends by attending the Russian Orthodox funeral. One of the thoughts that ran through my head was the intense need to spread the love of Christ to those who are lost. I was reminded that for nonbelievers everywhere, there is a lack of hope. There is no reassurance, joy, or a peace. I am not saying this little boy was not a believer nor am I saying his family are not believers either, but rather, I am saying this as a general statement. The fact that people do not know Christ and will spend an eternity in hell should be a huge motivation for anyone of us to share the gospel.

One of these past weekends we flew south over 2 hours and 30 minutes to King Cove, which is located on the Alutien chain. The town has about 800-900 people. It is such a beautiful sight to see with really hospitable people. When we were picked up from the runway, we were instantly introduced to this southern man who expected no nonsense from any team. Come to find out, he was the principal of the King Cove School. He had just moved there with his wife 4 days before we came. On top of that, he was a believer and Scott and I had the privilege to pray with him before we left for home. This experience quickly reminded me that the reason we come on these basketball trips is not just for playing basketball, but opportunities for us to be lights to those around us wherever we go.

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in everything going on in our lives that we forget to check in on other peoples' lives to see how they are doing. No matter how busy life seems, I don't want to be too busy or deaf to obey God in His asking us to spread His word and love to others. I love watching my girls encourage, get to know, and love others so well.

We also went to Akiak a couple weekends ago for basketball, and we ended up winning our first game of the season. As soon as we got there, the other team was shooting around and playing bump (knock out). 3 of my girls immediately went over and joined their group. They came back reporting to me that they were really nice. Through my girls, I see the love and light of Christ. We talk about being lights and showing Christ when we travel. More than not, we see people who seem like they have no hope and we might be the only light that they see. I am so proud of my girls and how they want to live for Christ in their everyday lives. This doesn't only apply to basketball, it applies to everyday life with the people we come in contact with on a daily basis. As I continue to travel each and every weekend, I try to remind myself that no matter how tired, stressed, frustrated, drained, or overwhelmed I may feel....people matter! People need to love and be loved.

In recent conversation, there was a discussion of what it looks like to practically love people. The first thought in my mind was to ask a person their story. It is the most simplest of things to ask someone about themselves. Typically, most people like to talk about themselves and tell you about their life. All you have to do it listen. I think that is where the hard part comes in, at least for me. I tend to shy away because I feel that I have had my fill of conversation through teaching all day, classes at night, and coaching basketball. However, the Lord keeps reminding me how important it is for me to listen when someone needs a listening ear. I have four more weekends to travel and use my time wisely.

I am no better than anyone of you who are reading my blog, I am simply saying that I need to work harder at my first job, which is serving the Lord by spreading the gospel. I challenge you to look at your life and find a practical way of doing this to those around you. It may come down to you stepping out of your comfort zone to do so, but that is not always such a bad thing. May God use me to encourage you. Blessings brothers and sisters.