Unspeakable Joy

Do you know the difference between happiness and joy? The dictionary definition for both words is similar - feeling pleasure or contentment. The biblical definition of happiness can mean “supremely blessed” as used in John 13:17 according to Apostolic Faith Church. Whereas a biblical definition of joy is “choosing to respond to external circumstances with inner contentment and satisfaction,” according to Christianity.com. The Stewardology Podcast even says, “Happiness is a pleasure, Joy is a sacrifice. Joy does not only think of pleasure, rather, what is right and moral in the eyes of God.”

When I was looking for dictionary definitions of happiness and joy, I found on my first quick look about 15,900,000 definitions! Some of you reading this may say this is all semantics - that joy and happiness are synonymous. I beg to differ. I have lived through some painful life circumstances and would argue there is a vast difference between these two.

I remember talking to a friend about this very topic about a year after Dave died. I remember saying that I was not happy with my life, but I had great joy because I knew that God had a purpose for me despite the horrific circumstances I was in. I was not happy becoming a single mom and a widow at 34. I was not happy to have a son battling a neuromuscular disease and living life from a wheelchair while my other son struggled with an unidentified learning disability and PTSD. I certainly wasn’t happy when I cried myself to sleep multiple nights or even worse when I held my precious sons crying for their daddy.

I was not happy, but I had joy in my heart. I had joy because even though I couldn’t possibly see how, I knew my God would work all things for my good (Romans 8:28), and I knew God promised to heal the broken hearted (Psalm 147:3) and ultimately, he would wipe every tear from my eyes. I look forward to the day there will be no more tears (Revelation 21:4). I had joy because of our hope and faith in Jesus Christ, I was certain I would see Dave again whole and healthy in Heaven and our family would spend eternity together in the presence of the living God where all these light and momentary troubles would not even matter (2 Corinthians 4:17). After the trials, pain and brokenness I had been through, I finally understood the verse “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10)

So, I would confidently say yes, there is a difference between joy and happiness. And I began to seek joy. When I sought joy, I found it because I believe that’s what God wants his children to do. Have I been happy in the ten years since Dave died? Absolutely! I have smiled and laughed and rejoiced. I have remarried and not only found another man who seeks to love and serve Jesus, but I was given two daughters and most recently a precious granddaughter. I have made new friends and found a purpose in my pain. But happiness is fleeting, while joy lasts.

As I began to choose joy, I would find it in the most unexpected places. It would bubble up in my heart at the least likely times, and I sought out the verses on joy when I was struggling.

So, when our family arrived at church one Sunday morning and saw this awesome Christmas decoration outside the main entrance, I made the three younger kids pose for a picture. While this may not be the best quality photo, I love it! I hope as my kids grow and move into adulthood they remember Mom taught them to seek joy.

Scrapbooking Tips

I knew this would be a single photo layout, so I planned to fill the whole page with my design.

I found a Christmas Wreath Die cut from Paige Evans. I backed the open spaces with pattern paper from a simple stories collection. I will not lie - this was a little tedious and time consuming especially because it was the first die cut I ever backed. The process did go quicker as I worked my way around the wreath. My method was to lay the die cut down on my paper and trace the inside edge of the berries and leaves onto my pattern paper. I then carefully cut around the outside of my traced line so I would have a margin that I could glue to my die cut. One helpful tip is to use the sharpest pair of scissors to make a nice clean cut.

The cut file for this wreath, although beautiful was a little simple. The stickers that coordinated with the pattern papers I was using were too small for the scale of the wreath and nothing in my stash was large enough. I remembered these beautiful poinsettia dies that came with a card base from The Stamps of Life. They were the perfect size!

One design tip I use is to work in odd numbers - and I can’t tell you why. What I read is that odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye. And 90% percent of the time I am working with embellishment clusters, I end up with an odd number. At first, I tried various groupings of the three flowers in one cluster, but it looked unbalanced. What looked best to my eye was the large and small flower grouped together and the smaller flower across the wreath.

Something I did that was out of the norm for me was using pattern paper instead of solid cardstock as the base of my layout. When I was going through my Christmas papers this design caught my eye. It really looked like there was light on that page - and it sparkled. I chose it because it fit the mood I wanted to create - and it definitely sparked joy!

Supplies used:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Pattern paper - Simple stories

Cut file - Christmas  Wreath by Paige Evans Silhouette Design ID 308174

Poinsettia dies - The Stamps of Life