Cultivating Joy

Do you have a green thumb?

Are you one of those people who no matter how or what you plant it grows andgrows well? I have family members that have amazing gardens. Every year their gardens produce yummy squash, potatoes, tomatoes, collards, and much more. It isso neat to see the process of the seed going in the ground, then with water, sunlight, and a lot of patience it produces such tasty results.

I wish I can say that I also have a green thumb but I don’t-lol, one of my sister-in-laws gave me a plant called Pothos N Joy last April. I was so happy to have a Joyplant in my Joy Loft but honestly, I was a little nervous that it wasn’t going to lastlong. I was determined to keep it alive-I did well on watering it just right, putting it in the correct sunlight. I was so proud of myself. July came and I went through an unexpected time of grief and I forgot to go to my loft to water it.

When I finally went back up to my Joy loft (a week later) the plant had withered and was all dried up. I was bummed about my little plant, but I decided to water it again and put it in the sunlight, and after just a few days it came back better andstronger and a year later I still have it! ( Time for me to re-pot it to a larger pot!).

Sometimes our Joy can be the same way, we think our Joy is dried up and dead, butit’s really just waiting to be cultivated.

How can you cultivate your dying Joy, first by praying and asking God to give you Joy, do something kind for others, get a gratitude journal and write about the thingsthat you are thankful for, video chat or hang out with a friend that brings you Joy! Sometimes we focus on what is not going well in our lives that we lose focus on what IS going well!

So today let’s be intentional in Cultivating our JOY!