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Five Ways I Find Joy In Everyday Life

I realized I had to choose joy… It wasn’t just going to happen upon me.

Over the past 10 years I have had to endure the pain of losing children through pregnancy. It was hard. I found myself upset and at my wits-end with God. Eventually, I had an epiphany, that though I couldn’t control what was happening to me, I could take charge of how I reacted to things and how I lived my life. I knew I was gifted one life, therefore I did not want to waste it. You could say I became selfish in the fact that I did not want MY life to be spent wallowing in the negativity around me. I wanted to find joy.

Here are 5 ways I find joy in everyday life.

1. Soak up the moments.

This means I have to be intentional, I turn the TV off, put the device down, and pay attention to those around me. One of the most obvious, but often forgotten ways I do this is to sit down at the table and eat a meal with my husband and children.

Conversation Starter Idea:

Something I’ve seen Youtubers, Sam and Nia, do on their channel is ask their kids what was a high and low point of their day. It’s an easy way to start a conversation and could turn into more memories made or even a teaching moment.

A Commandment Based Around Dinner Time… Sort of:

Also, I recently attended a Sabbath dinner and tears filled my eyes as I realized this special gift. I think there is something about remembering it and keeping it Holy. According to the Jewish calendar, Sabbath starts on Friday night. Every single Friday night, those that acknowledge Sabbath, stop what they are doing, and come together to eat and spend time as a family. They make it special, light candles, pray together, and get this… the men pray over the women.

My in laws were given this short and helpful book about acknowledging this commandment that I feel is worth sharing.

2. Find something you enjoy creating.

I don’t know about you, but if I don’t find time to be creative I get antsy and moody. It’s like I have all this creativity bottled up inside of me and I have to let it out. I can only assume I am not the only human being that this happens to. Sewing, baking, and photography are a few of my favorite creative outlets.

Maybe you don’t have a lot of time or room for an extra creative hobby. The season of life I’m in right now does not allow for my personal crafts to be strung out on the kitchen table. Sometimes, I need something I can take with me on the go, or while I’m watching a show with my husband on the couch.

I have found bullet journaling, drawing and crochet to be a creative avenue that doesn’t take up a lot of room and can easily be put away.

3. Find time to spend with The Lord

It seems I’m in a constant struggle of balancing the mundane of life with spending time building a relationship with God. Life as a mom and a wife are non-stop. There’s always someone needing something or needing you to lend a hand. I remind myself that this is the life I always wanted, but it can leave me feeling empty.

So how do you spend time with The Lord?

Prayer:

It’s probably the most basic and simplest form. You can do it anytime or anywhere. You can literally talk to God about anything. Trust me. I go into detail about some of this in my book, Joy In Suffering. Don’t worry about feeling awkward. God doesn’t expect perfection, He just wants you to be present with Him.

Worship:

This could be a whole other blog post in itself, but I’ll try to keep this short and simple. The form of worship I’m talking about here is music. Find songs that speak to you and will get you to that deep worship.

For me, sometimes it’s the latest Bethel or Hillsong tracks I’m listening too while driving down the highway, a TobyMac jam my family and me are dancing to in our living room, an Ellie Holcomb song while putting my makeup on, and other times it’s my old Alan Jackson Gospel Hymns CD while washing dishes.

Reading:

Then there is diving into His word, the Bible. There are a plethora of Bible studies that have been created on all kinds of topics that will help you dive into the Word. There is one particular I have to recommend because it has been a good help to me. It’s a high school student workbook by Sonya Shafer of Simply Charlotte Mason called Life In The Word. It goes back to the basics of Bible reading and teaches you step by step how to actually study the bible.

4. Creating an inviting and comfortable space.

I was recently at a wedding and I got to talking with my cousin who lives in Colorado. She’s from Texas, but has lived in Colorado for several years. I asked her how she likes living there. She said, “I don’t know if this makes sense, but the mountains are breathtaking and just so beautiful with all the trees. It makes me feel good.” I smiled and replied, “I know exactly what you are talking about. That’s why I live in East Texas… not that it’s a comparison to the mountains, but it’s so lush with big bushy trees and rolling pastures. It makes me happy.”

So maybe you or your husband’s job has you miss-placed in an area that does not make you happy. I’ve been there. My husband and I have moved a lot in our adult lives to all kinds of places: city apartments, West Texas tow-home, my parent’s house, a mobile home, and super old rental houses.

It has always been important to me that no matter where we live, our little space in the world felt like home. I made a point to decorate where ever we lived. Nothing over the top and fancy, but something that made our temporary homes bearable for the seasons we were there.

As I look back over the years, I am so glad I felt the need to decorate. Even the hardest times of my life, I can still find joy in the spaces we lived in.

5. Lots of GRACE.

I once heard the Duggar Family speak in person. The #1 thing I took away from their talk was of Michelle Duggar speaking about expectations. She said, “Expectations ruin relationships.”

It can be easy to set relative expectations in our own minds of what our spouses, kids, and even ourselves should be doing every day. Similarly, I am guilty of this and can wind up stressed and full of anxiety if I didn’t get much checked off my to-do list for that day.

I remind myself not to set my expectations so high, because when you don’t, you are able to give you and everyone else some grace. In return, everyone will usually be calmer because of the peace that is present.

 

There are my five ways I find joy in everyday life. I hope these ideas can help someone else find that same joy because life is much better with joy in it.

Lastly, what are some ways you have found joy? Tell me about it in the comments. I’d love to hear from you!

~Rosemary Pope

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