Joy...

The Bible makes it pretty clear, if we have faith in Christ, there should be joy in our life.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "Always be joyful."
• Galatians 5:22 says "But the Spirit produces the fruit of... joy..."
• Nehemiah 8:10 says "...Go and enjoy good food and sweet drinks. Send some to people who have none, because today is a holy day to the Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy of the Lord will make you strong."
• Psalm 47:1 says us to "Clap your hands, all you people. Shout to God with joy."

So I turned on my new $1 TobyMac CD and listened to some Funky Jesus Music. And there was definitely some joy after that.

But how do we reconcile these instructions with real life? Like today, when I had carved out a rest day. I haven't been feeling well for a few days, and with nothing on the calender I knew today was the right day to hang out around the house, relax, and work on somethings I'd been postponing. One of those things: Laundry.

I was on my third load - and if I do say so myself - really rocking the laundry, having actually folded and put away most of the two previous loads I'd done, when I heard that ominous sound of water flooding. We've been having a problem with water coming out of our toilet (yes, toilet) when we wash laundry, but had pretty much determined it only happened when we washed large/heavy loads.

The plumber is already scheduled to come out on Monday, but that didn't help today when that water started flooding.

As I ran to the laundry room I realized, to my horror, that there was only one way to get the mop... by walking through the flood. Yes, by walking through the toilet flood. Ugh!

So where's the joy in that?

I couldn't change the brokenness of my equipment, or the sewage water all over my floor, or even the fact that I was going to have to clean it up on a day off. The only thing I could change was me.