The Color of Joy!

YELLOW!  Yellow is the color of my joy! Whether it is the pale yellow of butter cream frosting, the mild yellow of the daffodils or the bright yellow of the forsythia pictured, yellow (Not GOLD!) brings me joy.  Lemon bars, lemonade, lemon cake and my friend’s homemade Lemon Meringue pie also bring me joy.  The only thing that lets me down about yellow is that I can’t wear it, though I did give it the good old college try which was captured outside my parent’s house in the 1970’s.  My grandmother made me a yellow gauzy dress, really it was just perfect, especially with the white and yellow striped socks I found (sarcasm intended), though perfect on me it was not. 

 Nehemiah 8:10 says “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Strength from Joy?  We think of strength like the building of muscle picture Popeye and his spinach.  We also may feel strength from knowledge, being part of a group, having protection of some sort.  But strength from Joy?  Yes…what is more powerful than being able to find joy in the midst of all that is troubling in this life?

            Joy is this amazing this that creeps up on us slowly or busts in our face without notice, it is unpredictable and can show up in the strangest of places.  Joy can slowly beat the troubles of the day away, like a smile that starts slowly, turning one corner of a mouth at a time until pop there is a dimple and a twinkle in the eye and in this there is new strength.

There is the bust out loud with a whoop or a laugh kind of joy, weddings and babies, love old and new, life old and new, laughter and tears, words like “Hey!” You’re kidding?!” “Amazing!” or no words---speechlessness.  It is the private or public snort while laughing, or the simple act of getting up each day feeling the rug, tile or wood beneath your feet.

What is the color of your joy?  What distracts you to see and feel God’s blessings in this life?

 If you are not sure or think this too simplistic remember what Alice Walker wrote in The Color Purple:

            “I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.” 

 The joy of the Lord surrounds us; the joy of the Lord is ours 

and makes us strong!