Fullness of Joy

So, I have come to the brilliant conclusion that joy is a choice. You can choose to be joyful, or you can choose to be a cranky-pants. Today, for much of the day, I chose to be a cranky-pants. And I made all kinds of wonderful excuses for why I deserved to be cranky: I had to get up at 5 this morning, I had a headache, the preschoolers were not well-behaved, the kindergarteners were not well-behaved, I didn't have enough coffee, etc... But, as I went through the afternoon with this amazing, self-pitying outlook on life, I realized that basically I was just a whiner and I needed to suck it up and get over it. I mean seriously...you think Jesus didn't have to deal with headaches and not enough sleep and stupid people? Come on! He had to walk on this earth as the God-man, and he dealt with all kinds of unpleasant situations. What was His response? Complete and total trust in His Father, and an unconditional love for His creation. Who am I? What right do I have to be frustrated with these 3-6 year-olds who come from broken homes and who spend more time with me than with their parents? How could my response be anything more than love for their little lost souls and a desire to show them Jesus? So, I made a choice to be joyful, and believe me, it wasn't easy - I really had to work at it for the rest of the day. But by the time chapel rolled around, I was able to dance with my wonderful campers through two rounds of the "Round-up" song, and have a completely marvelous time!

Psalm 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore."

Shaina