I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart…Where? Down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart! I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart….Where? DOWN IN MY HEART TO STAY!
Ahhhhh my heart is happy. The Lord is good to me! Have you ever started giggling out loud for no reason whatsoever but really the reason is because God is just so good? It’s the best feeling ever, and I’ve gotten to experience that kind of joy here in Ghana. I want to share a few instances where I have felt joy this month so far:
- This month, we are teaching kids in a Christian school. At any given moment, we may be asked to lead a song, give a devotion, or play a game with the kids with no advance notice. This is a tad frightening for me as I really do NOT enjoy being put on the spot. I am a planner to the core, and if you know me at all, you will heartily agree. So, planner that I am, I have made lists. Extensive lists. A list of every kids’ game I know. A list of every fun church song I remember from my childhood. Lists of potential devotions. Lists of Bible study topics. Lists of sermons I could preach. It has actually been a huge blessing to compile these lists because I realize now how incredibly useful they could be in the future. And picking my brain for kids’ church songs has been SO FUN. I have about 30 songs on my list now, not including other kids’ songs in general. The best part about making this list is the joy I feel every time I remember a new one. And it’s funny how it happens too. We will be hoppin’ in a van to go to town, singing worship at church, or taking a walk, and suddenly, a song that has been so deeply repressed in my memory comes rushing forth from the depths of my brain. I excitedly sing through it and write it down, and if I’m stuck on some lyrics, I have the huge blessing of having a few teammates who also grew up singing many of the same songs as me, and I can ask them for help. Together, we sing through the whole song and pat ourselves on the back for remembering. Not only is it beautiful how many songs I have on my list that I can now share with my teammates and the kids, but it’s so amazing for me to be reminded of the good memories I have singing those songs. I love how much the kids love the songs I’ve taught them so far because I loved those songs so much myself. And I get to be a kid again and do all the fun actions with them!
- Last Saturday, we got to go to a place called Boti Falls for our Adventure Day (we have one Adventure Day a week where we are encouraged to go see the country). It was close to two hours away through bumpy mountain roads, but oh was it worth it! We took a two-hour hike and saw so much beauty and so much diversity in the landscape and got super sweaty and tired because I was not lying when I said Africa was HOT. After our hike, we went down to the “waterfall”, which is in quotations because it’s dry season, so “waterfall” is a vast overstatement. There was a small shallow lake at the bottom and the tiniest of trickles coming down from the falls. Regardless, the area was beautiful, and we made the most of it. I sat on a canoe and got rowed around the lake while some of the team went swimming, and we all had so much fun. All day, I was just so thankful to God for the chance to be in Ghana, the chance to be in his beautiful creation, and the chance to be with the people I was with. I felt so much JOY that day.
- Last month, we were in the heart of the big city of Abidjan. It was not a bad month by any means, and I liked it, but I didn’t realize how much my heart missed the wide-open country. As we drove to Ghana, I looked out the window for hours because all I had seen for a month was city. This month in Ghana, we are in Madina outside Accra and in a very residential area. It’s far quieter and more laid back than where we stayed last month. If I walk 10 minutes one way, I reach the end of the houses and can follow a dirt/grass path into the country. It brings me so much joy to be able to walk in the country by myself and see the mountains in the distance – thanks God for that huge blessing this month!
- We go to church for about three hours every Sunday and two hours every Wednesday here, which is far longer than church back home. Usually, I would cringe at the thought of a service lasting that long, yet it’s been completely fine. I have experienced a lot of joy during worship as I think about how incredibly thankful and content I am being in Ghana right now. I have giggled a lot during church because God has just been giving me joy. And we usually get to have a dance party at the end of church on Sundays, which is a wonderful way to express my joy.
- When I was told this month I’d have to preach, I was not excited. But you can’t grow if you never leave your comfort zone, so alright, I guess I’ll do it. What was the topic of my sermon? Joy. How the way we live our lives as Christians should be a result of the joy we have in Christ. Because he loves us and we love him, we will WANT to obey him and do what he says. It should never be legalism or us trying to earn our way to heaven because we can’t. Our lives should be lived out of the overflow of joy we have through Christ because he set us free from all sin and loves us, the worst of sinners! Before I preached this, I didn’t even know joy was a theme of sorts for me this month, but it’s definitely turning out that way. I was preaching to myself.
You shouldn’t base your faith on feelings because if I did, I wouldn’t be where I am. Last month, I felt pretty far from God (yup, I’m a ‘missionary’ and I felt far from God; this is honesty hour), but I knew in my heart that nothing from my life before Christ was enough and that continuing to pursue Christ was the only thing that would fulfill me. These spurts of joy where I giggle and can’t stop smiling are absolutely beautiful. Yet I know they won’t always last. I won’t always feel like laughing out loud, but I am so thankful that God gives me those moments and those feelings so I can remember how good He is in the moments where I don’t understand what he’s doing or don’t feel like he’s there (last month). For now, I am just thankful for the season I’m in where I get to giggle out loud and experience joy because it’s these moments that help me remember it’s all worth it. Following Jesus is worth it. Thank you God for restoring to me the JOY of your salvation (Psalm 51:12) and allowing me to feel your presence more this month!
Sorry this got so long but I just can’t help it because JOY!
