During the month of November and December, we will be focusing on the theme: Joy to the World. Check out this practical post by Hilary Horn —
“A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22
How true is this proverb? One of our mottos in our family is to “choose joy”. Joy in hardships, depression or trials can seem lofty. Yet when we taste it or are givers of joy, healing happens. It’s medicine to the soul. Below are 5 easy ways in beginning to integrate joy in you community and home.
- When you have a nice thought about someone or are reminded of how lovely they are, immediately let them know. Send them a quick text, message or note. If they are sitting in front of you, let them know. Don’t be shy with nice words. Send them love before it leaves you mind. This isn’t taxing or time consuming, but can brighten up someone’s day, let alone their week!
- Celebrate the little things. Often we tend to celebrate monumental life successes. This is great, but we then forget to celebrate the little moments in life that add up to so much more and spur people on to doing more of those little things. Your toddler finally pooped in the toilet? Go nuts. Your co-worker finally got her deadline in ontime? Tell them how great of a job they are doing. Your neighbor planted some beautiful new flowers? Go gaga over how lovely they look. You saw a stranger pick up some trash on the ground? Comment on how nice that was of them to clean up your city. Celebrate those moments like you are your community’s biggest cheerleader.
- Be a fan of the underdog. The earth is jam-packed with these people who may not be in what society deems worthy or praise, but are bursting with potential and are extraordinary human beings too. We all can pick out the loner in our circles. Go after them with as much enthusiasm as you do your best friend.
- If you’re that underdog or feeling lonely; do what you would want others to do to you. If you are desiring a new friend, be bold and be that friend! Reach out to someone and invite them into your life. Put out what exactly you want to draw in and see friendships blossom.
- Be generous. Generous with your time, your monetarily means, your hospitality, your grace and forgiveness. Let us heal the world one person at a time through our generosity towards others.
Let us give good medicine to the souls of our community. When we want to see joy in our world we have to be people that want to give it too. Jen Hatmaker says in her book, of Mess and Moxie, “Go gaga over your own people…Overvalue them, over-love them, over-encourage them”. I love this. When we overvalue the people in our lives; when we do the little things that make us their biggest cheerleader – you will automatically see the joy spots burst forth in your life. Let us be people who invest wholeheartedly in our communities to give little doses of joy each day – medicine for our soul.