The Daily Dance of Joy
Are you dancing through life choosing the joy of the Lord with every step? Or have the days become a drudgery of discontent?
Whether you are already focusing on choosing joy or know you have a lot to learn about the practice of joyfulness, you’ll want to read Sally Clarkson’s new book. (Keep reading to find out how you can win a copy!)
Dancing with My Father: How God Leads Us into a Life of Grace and Joy is not just an uplifting, encouraging read. It’s like each chapter is a chat over a cup of tea with the author herself. Reading Mrs. Clarkson’s book makes me feel like I’ve gotten to know this dear lady, seen her heart and felt her hugs. Hearing through the pages of Dancing with My Father about how she chose joy in her daily life and struggles inspired me to choose “a different heart”, a heart of joy. And it brought home the point that it’s not something that just happens—I must choose joy. Each and every day.
Clearly joy is an issue of the heart. Joy is not found in performing for people or in doing all the right things for God. Nor is joy in the absence of difficulties or problems. Joy is found in the presence of God in the midst of all circumstances, in delighting in the life he has given. (Dancing with My Father, pg. 38ff)
Mrs. Clarkson, as a mother of four, knows that joy doesn’t just naturally bubble up in every day of a mom’s life. She knows the loneliness and discouragement that can come to a stay-at-home mom. She knows the pain of watching a friend suffer. She knows the heartbreak of losing a baby. She knows the feeling that “life will be good when”—when I get married, when I have children, when my children are out of diapers, etc. She knows that one can begin to feel empty when each of those milestones arrived without the hoped-for fulfillment and joy.
She has learned that joy and thankfulness do not come with a certain age or experience: they can only come out of the daily choice to be joyful and thankful.
The key to enjoying God in every moment of these daily pleasures is to open the eyes of my mind to see and to appreciate what he has given. A thankful heart galvanizes the connection between my God and me. (pg. 92)
Making a choice to resist stewing and fretting over all the issues of my day gives me the ability to delight in each moment as a gift. My responsibilities have not changed, but my relationship to my responsibilities has. (pg. 177)
As a young mom who can all too easily stay focused on the exhaustion of my never-ending, never-finished tasks, this book was not so much a breath of fresh air as a timely prick to my heart and conscience. Am I seeing Him in the little things He has placed in my life—or am I too busy and overwhelmed to notice, let alone thank Him? Am I using those 3 a.m. feedings to thank Him for my little one—or to dream of going back to sleep? Is it evident to all who meet me that I have an inner wellspring of joy of my life—or am I rushed and stressed and anything but a picture of perfect peace and joy?
Mrs. Clarkson comes alongside the young mom, the stressed businesswoman, the tired missionary and gently reminds us of the only way we can keep the spring of joy in our steps as we dance through life: by choosing joy, choosing to live each moment in step with the Joy Giver, Jesus Christ our Lord.
If I want to grow a heart of joy, then I must plant the words of God and his truth. I must feed joy daily to ensure that it becomes a healthy fruit of my heart. I must be vigilant to pick and demolish the weeds of doubt, despair, sin, complain, and selfishness which threaten to overcome this joy. A hedge of protection should be in place so that nothing comes in to destroy the very place that God designed for me to cultivate faith, truth, beauty, and joy. (pg. 190-191)
And the sweet picture on the cover of a little girl dancing? To me it represents the hope that my generation’s loss of joyful innocence can be restored: not into blissful ignorance, but into delightful dependence on God.
He can turn our mourning into dancing. He is waiting to lead us by the hand, every step of the way. It’s a daily choice. But the burdens are lighter when Dancing with My Father.
- To enter the drawing for a copy of Dancing with My Father, please comment and tell us:
What is one of the “weeds” that robs joy from the garden of your heart?
What do you do each day to feed the joy in your heart?
What have you set as a hedge of protection around your heart to guard from doubt and despair? - Drawing ends at midnight, Tuesday, March 9, 2010.
- Thanks to the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for providing this book for review and giveaway.
- Congratulations to Megan for winning a copy of Dancing with My Father!
Some of the “weeds” I deal with are feelings of inferiority…trying to better and failing. I know that I must lean on God’s strength and not my own.
I thank God for the joy He gives us as His children! He has blessed my life so abundantly…I can never stay discouraged for too long. I’m a kind of “naturally” happy person.
SING!! Even when you don’t feel like it. Praise God and thank Him. Count your blessings. Purpose to believe and embrace the TRUTH. (feelings will follow). So sing! Sing your heart out for your KING!!
Fear or my to-do list are the most frequent robbers.
I nourish joy by taking a walk, praying, thinking on hymns, reading the Bible and Christian books.
My best protection is consistent time with God. It works best when I spend time alone with Him, able to freely approach Him with my needs and welcome His word to my life.
One of the “weeds” that robs joy from the garden of my heart is dealing with the stress of caring for a family member who is ill and also my own chronic illness. Something I try to do each day (emphasis on “try”) is to meditate on a passage of the Bible that reminds me of God’s faithfulness. Over the years, I have seen God’s hand of mercy and grace again and again, and a hedge of protection for me is to recount the many “stones of remembrance” that remind me that God is worthy to be praised even in times of suffering. This also serves as my hedge of protection to keep me from sinking down into despair.
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you” (II Corinthians 4:7-12).
One of the weeds that robs me of joy in my daily life would have to be busyness. I try to take on too much (sometimes in the name of serving the Lord) and experience burn-out.
Being on the go so much wouldn’t be that bad, except that my quiet time inevitably with the Lord suffers for it. The story of Mary and Martha gets me every time, so a surefire way for me to guard the joy in my heart is to sit at Jesus’ feet, be still, and KNOW that HE is God and I am not, thus I don’t have to have everything under control and working smoothly.
A hedge of protection for me would definitely have to be the many wonderful people God has put into my life to prevent me from overworking myself and becoming “distracted” as Martha was from my true purpose-living for Him. My mama always seems to know when I have taken on too much and need a “nap” or a little time alone with the Lord!
The biggest weed for me I think is selfishness.. I believe that Joy comes from Jesus and a way to feel better is to always start praising Him! and to know that the victory has already been won.. I just have to claim it!
What definitely robs my joy the most is focusing on my health & its limitations. However, praying with another or playing hymns on the piano brings joy back into my life. As a hedge, my friends provide the biggest protection for me: my spiritual companions remind me that God is faithful and always there for me. My other friends help me the other side of life & are always there to encourage me to take a break and have some fun with them.
One of my weeds is fear, particularly fear of failure.
I feed joy daily by remembering that each day is made by God and He calls us to rejoice in it.
My hedge of protection is the heart knowledge that Jesus loves me. Plain and simple. He loved me before I loved Him, so nothing I can do will cause Him to stop loving me, but instead of giving me license to sin, that fact encourages me to return Him love by obeying His words.
Wow! I love the sound of this book!
What is one of the “weeds” that robs joy from the garden of your heart?
I have struggled with health problem that causes depression since I was nine. It only got worse when I became a teenager. (Now I’m 21) I have health problems that help me feel depressed. There are numbers of things that try to steal happiness from me. I guess I don’t really want to list it all on here. 😀
What do you do each day to feed the joy in your heart?
Something I’ve started doing this week is – I have a “I’m thankful for…” poster hanging just above my desk which I’m committed to writing on every day. (I laminated a pretty page and bought a whiteboard marker)
Another thing I did is bought a hammock 😀 But then I found I’m far to active to lie still for too long!
What have you set as a hedge of protection around your heart to guard from doubt and despair?
Prayer! I bought His Princess love letters from your King, which has been a great investment.
I think that the most difficult “weeds” I have to deal with are bitter, selfish people. I have to work each day at focusing on the truth of the Lord and not on the bitter, selfish complaining I have to hear. I am learning to choose to be grateful about every circumstance that God brings into my life, even if it is contradictory to the opinions of people around me. Learning to practice gratefulness every day is helping me to maintain joy in my heart, but it’s a commitment I have to renew every day.
My joy robber at this point in life is my health situation.
I try to feed joy in my life each day through the reading of His Word, music, and books.
My hedge of protection would be reading His Word each day.
What robs me of joy? Most often, trying to see into the unknown and concern for what tomorrow will bring. Seeking affirmation from others rather than from my Jesus is another struggle.
How do I feed my joy? A walk outdoors, singing praise songs, and writing a list of things I’m thankful for in my gratitude journal are a few….
And a hedge to protect my joy…learning to stop when those negative feelings arise, take them to my Father, and go forward moment by moment trusting Him.
*discontentment
*focus on the things I have to be grateful for, do something fun like bake cookies or go for a walk
*read the Psalms and give thanks to God in and for all things
Thank you for doing this giveaway! 🙂
My fear is generally what robs me of my joy.
To help me stay joyful, I usually sing hymns on the way to/from school and talk with friends about his faithfulness.
As a hedge of protection, just God Himself! He can use ANYTHING!
1) I’m in grad school, so I find that my homework is excellent at robbing my joy and distracting me from Jesus.
2) I get outside and delight in the beauty of the mountains. I sew or bake. I spend time with the people I love.
3) I have guarded my quiet time with Jesus, something I am continuing to work on, but that I recognize the importance of.
1. My temper
2. Sing praise songs/hymns as I go about my work, and smile at people.
3. Matthew 28: 20 b, “… And behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
What steals my joy is when I focus on the drudgery of life, instead of seeing each day as a gift. Recently, the desires of my heart where dashed when the earthquake struck Haiti. I have wanted to serve God on the mission field since I was six years old. I know He’s led me to Haiti, but now I’m waiting again for His perfect timing.
When I focus on Him, and on His plans for me; when I leave everything in Abba’s hands and let Him worry about the details, what peace and joy that brings!
-Some of the weeds that rob me of my joy in life are plain busyness of life, discontentment with my season of life as well as comparison with others and their situation(s) and not focusing on the eternal aspect of things.
-To help to make me joyful, I pray/talk with God, focus on serving/helping out somebody who is going through a true trial, count the blessings great and small that I have, read the Scriptures, or listen/play/ sing some music.
-I have placed God, prayer, and His Word as a hedge of protection around my heart as well as accountability from family (especially my mom) and strong Christian friends and mentors as well as little reminders here and there that I know have helped in the past.
This book looks and sounds absolutely WONDERFUL!
Okay, so, one of the “weeds” that robs me of my joy…. quite simply, taking my eyes off Jesus, and setting my focus on what the world has to offer instead.
Each day, I force myself to spend time with the Lord, whether I “feel like it” or not. I know He does (at least) 2 things each morning: He develops discipline and faithfulness in me, and He comes through for me. He doesn’t fail to speak to me, if I listen.
Prayer is my hedge of protection. When I can tell that weeds of doubt or discontent or fear or worry are creeping in, I’ve got to take the time – a walk, a drive, or just sitting – and just talk to the Lord. Pour out my heart to Him, and let Him fill me back up with joy and courage for the next step I must take.
Phew, so that’s it for me!
Blessings,
Abbie
What is one of the “weeds” that robs joy from the garden of your heart?
I think stress is my biggest “weed”, which comes from so many different areas in my life. I struggle with feeling inadequate, sometimes even before God.
What do you do each day to feed the joy in your heart?
The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning (sometimes before I even open my eyes) is thank God for blessing my family and I with another day to do his will. Then, I usually journal a little in my prayer journal and read a verse or two. Just starting the day out with my Father usually keeps me on a cloud all day. I can FEEL the difference when I don’t.
What have you set as a hedge of protection around your heart to guard from doubt and despair?
Like the poster before me, His words shield and comfort me. I also try to be careful the kinds of things I allow my mind to be filled with. For instance, the news gets very negative, even their feature stories seem to always highlight someone’s faults- I watch the headlines and then turn the TV off.
Wow, this book sounds so amazing! 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
Fear or worry would be my biggest “weed.”
Reminding myself to trust in the Lord and thinking of His many promises to me would be the way I feed the joy in my heart.
God’s word that I have memorized would be my hedge of protection.
What is one of the “weeds” that robs joy from the garden of your heart?
Although the struggle is lessening, I still find myself robbed of my joy from time to time over the fact that I’ve been unable to have children.
What do you do each day to feed the joy in your heart?
For me, doing some kind of outdoor activity renews my joy. I live in what I believe to be one of the most beautiful places in the world and when I’m outside, I am often stunned by the greatness and beauty of my King.
What have you set as a hedge of protection around your heart to guard from doubt and despair?
This is a good question. I’m not even sure. Except… in surrender, I find freedom. I battled depression over infertility and other issues for over a year and it was surrender that finally lifted my head above the water.
A clarification: the badly handled dating relationship was between my friend and a girl I know well, not he and I. We always considered ourselves like siblings.
1. worrying what other people think of me
2. finding time to connect with God, going outside/enjoying nature
3. sounds kind of silly, but trying to get enough sleep! I’m a lot more prone to sadness and worry when I am over-tired.
Mine is specific to this year.
I had a dear friend last year, a boy my age who drove me to church events several times a week. We called each other “brother” and “little sister” and his mother is the wisest person I know. We used to sit in my driveway and talk, vent, encourage… once we got a flat tire and we prayed together while we waited for help. I’ve always had issues with friendships, and he was the best “best friend” I ever had. When he left for college, lot’s of complicated things happened, mostly because of a badly handled dating relationship and a lot of miscommunication. I lost his friendship, and I’ve had a horrible time dealing with the pain of it this year. The hole he left still aches.
The saying “count your blessings” might be a little cliche, but it is a marvelous way of keeping joy. Instead of saying, “Why, God?” I can say, “Thank you, Father!!” That makes so much difference. Singing is one blessing in particular that gives me joy.
The hedge around my heart is the knowledge that God uses pain. Just because this friendship caused me pain in the end doesn’t mean that I wasn’t supposed to have it. The year I had changed me in so many ways, and even the experience I’m going through now will probably be helpful as I hope to go into women’s ministry. Also, a good way of dealing with it is setting aside a certain amount of time to mourn when I need to, then intentionally rejoicing and casting away my sadness.
Congratulations, Megan! You’re the giveaway winner. Thanks for sharing your hedges!
Thank you! That’s exciting!
My most stubborn “weed” seems to be a poor self-image. Feeling badly about the way I look can keep me from doing the things and seeing the people that I love.
To feed the joy in my heart, I reflect on the infinite beauty of the world God has created.
As a hedge of protection, I try to avoid media that makes me feel that I should look differently than I do, and to enjoy more positive media.
One of the things that can rob joy from my life is not knowing the unknown and not simply trusting the Lord with it all. My future and the lack of vision I have to see it often can make me
stressed out or worried.
The Psalms bring much joy to my heart as well as writing down at least one thing each day that I am thankful for. And just glancing back at my past clearly shows that He can be trusted, my Father knows and that is enough for me. His precious Word stands there for me to see clearly the promises He has given me for His plan and protection for my life.
I find busyness often robs me of joy. My To-Do list rules over my life more than I’d like to admit, and sometimes I get so caught up in the details that I lose sight of what’s really important: my husband needing to talk about his rough day at work or my three-year-old begging me to play playdough with him.
Whenever I feel myself becoming stressed or overwhelmed, I try to take a step back to gain perspective. Sometimes it means aggressively fending off that To-Do List Monster and giving myself permission to let a few things go. Sometimes it means finding one or two things to be thankful for and meditating on those rather than looking at what I don’t have.
God’s word is my hedge of protection. When doubt and despair threaten, I can always run back to Scripture and stand firmly on the promises I find there. No matter what I’m feeling, God’s word is true. No matter what my circumstances, His words can be trusted. And that absolute security is what gets me through. It gives me the courage to have joy, to step out in faith, no matter how shakey or uncertain I may be.
My biggest joy-robber is a selfish focus on my health problems. I hardly ever *feel* like serving others above myself. But, oh, when I start the day with my Lord and maintain communion throughout the hours, everything is so different.
*comparison
*focus on being thankful in all things… worship music… breathing fresh air… time with my Father
*knowing my God and reading His Word
thanks!