True Joy

Throughout my life I have struggled, like many people, with all sorts of different things. I have been abused by people, neglected, ignored, abandoned. I have wallowed in self destruction and anger.

But, I find myself here in this exact place in my life filled with pure and true joy.

I want to shout it from the mountain tops!! 

Where do I find my joy you may ask? (or maybe not, but I'll say anyway) Jesus Christ!

Jesus has always loved me. He has stood firmly by my side when I continuously abandoned Him, ignored Him and denied Him.

He has blessed me with a job that I truly love. And it's not the mundane tasks that I love, it's the people He has purposefully set in my path, in my days, in my line of sight that I love. It's the fact that God has healed me from the blindness of disbelief and faithlessness. He has opened my eyes and healed my heart and my family. He has re-made me!

He has blessed me with new eyes in which to view my family and people around me that allows me to find joy in them and not have unrealistic expectations of them.

I love having faith in Jesus and seeing Him work in my life and the lives of people around me. He is a comfort to me every day.

I have a little plaque on my desk that reads "Trust. 'trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.' Proverbs 3:5.

Seeing this everyday helps me to remember that relying on myself for joy or other people for joy will always lead to disappointment and dispair. True joy comes from Christ and His ultimate sacrifice for my salvation. Not from the pain He suffered, but the unimaginable love He has for us. It's beyond my minds capacity to understand the depths of His love. My heart swells as I think of that.

I hope this encourages you too, to lean not on your own understanding, but have faith in God. Only He can bring you true joy.

May God bless you!
Aubrey

It's not you....it's me!

I love reading blogs on Blogger! I truly do. I also love doing things that are "post worthy" and trying to be witty. Unfortunately I'm finding myself not making time to post. So, I'm having a great Saturday at home, which is new, so I thought I'd post.

Now, don't get me wrong, I really don't have anything that is really interesting to post, just an update to feed my narcissism I guess! haha

I probably should be exercising, or like, doing laundry, but...oh well. Life is short and sometimes its nice to do something that makes you feel good. (Not at the expense of others, I do not condone that!)

Some things I recommend you check out:

Mark Driscoll, Preacher at Mars Hill Church in Seattle (great teacher, shoots from the hip, but always the hip of The Word!)

Sugar Pie Farmhouse (Oh my goodness...this blog makes me feel warm, fuzzy and feminine every time I read it!)

Life in Rehab (this gal cracks me up and is so creative)

Churches Helping Churches 


Please pray for the people of Japan that they would find comfort and that the individuals working on the reactor would be given wisdom and guidance.

That is all for now, thank you.
Much love,
Aubrey