Joy

Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. 2 Nephi 2:25

 

Even though I've always heard that "men are that they might have joy", it wasn’t until the summer of 2019 that those words truly settled into my heart. For some reason, it has always felt easier for me to accept that life is full of trials than to believe that joy could be present along the way. I’ve thought of joy as a destination once hard times settle down, rather than something possible here and now, especially in the hardest times. I could always see little tender mercies and blessings, but what of joy? I confess, it falls off my radar in hard times.

Can JOY exist amidst trial? I declare that it can.

The summer of 2019 was one of those difficult seasons for me. I called my mom at a low point and her answer was to fly me out to Florida so we could be together. I was pretty unsure if this was the right move. I had four young kids at home, and a full time mom and part time photographer! School was about to start for them and my birthday was coming up - it didn't seem like the best time to take off four days.

My sweet husband supported the idea of me going, so I reluctantly took my mom's offer. The tickets were purchased and a wave of uncertainty came over me. I still felt like it was selfish of me. Then we saw it: the confirmation code: BGOJOY!

I will never allow anyone to tell me that my confirmation code was not a literal confirmation from God that I was to just let it BE. GO and have JOY! That was the first thing that came to mind, and even after all these years I can still shout from the rooftops that God truly does want us to have joy. When most confirmation codes are a random mix of letters and numbers, I cannot and will not dismiss this. God was speaking to me!

So I went... and JOY I had! I almost feel like I had more joy and loved the trip even more because I felt like God wanted me to. So I say to you, all you who may read this: do you know that God wants JOY for you, too?