JOY !!!

I just left my daughter's room after tucking her in tonight, and she is still singing. We always let her read for a little while before we call for "lights out," and tonight was no exception. One of the books I gave my first grader this time was "The Wise and Foolish Builders" by Arch Books. And she was singing the words, not just reading them. When I went to tuck her in, she was just bursting with joy and energy (after being home sick from school all day!).

"Mom, can I just read you these two pages? They are just so awesome:

In this short story Jesus is
The solid Rock and we are His
Those who believe in Him alone
Are built upon this Cornerstone.

The storms of life? There will be some.
But on this Rock you'll overcome.
Through all the troubles that you'll face
He'll show you His amazing grace. [I just love that part, Mom. I like to sing it.]

When all the storms of life are done,
And life is gone like setting sun,
He'll take you to a splendid place
Where you will see Him face-to-face.

No floods or storms will harm you there;
No sickness, death or worried care.
You'll live forever with the Lord.
The Rock of Ages gave His word.

"I just love that so much. I don't know, it just makes me so happy. And I'm proud of myself for asking Jesus to be in my heart. And I'm so thankful that people make books like that. I don't know who wrote it, but they didn't just write it like blah. They wrote the details and explained it all. I guess they just read the story in the Bible and thought 'I'm gonna write a book about that!' And you know, that gave me an idea. At school I want to write about this kind of stuff, but I'm kinda nervous. Because you know some people believe in Him, and some people don't. But maybe if I did, maybe it would make someone else's heart just explode with happiness! It makes MY heart explode. Even my friend ________, since I know she doesn't really know about Jesus... but maybe if she read my story she would ask me questions and I could tell her. Because Jesus wants us to share about Him. I think that's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna write a story about God at school. I don't know why, but I'm just so happy!"

Yes, she literally said all that and more while barely stopping to take a breath! For the last week or two I've been thinking about the concept of the joy of the Lord, and what that really looks like. Well, without a doubt, I have seen it tonight. This tiny paragraph in my blog doesn't do justice to what I witnessed flowing out of my daughter tonight, but hopefully you can at least catch a glimpse of it. And more importantly, I hope that you have this same Joy flowing within your heart, too.

I've got joy down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart
J-O-Y down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart
Jesus put it there, and nothing can destroy it
I've got joy down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart