Choosing Joy

A neat lady (whose emails I greatly enjoy) always says that she chooses joy every day. Whatever challenges come her way, she will choose the Joy of the Lord all through it. Its an inspiring motto, certainly, but not easy to do! I try to choose gratitude each day, for whatever is good in my life, and for each good thing I know anyone has done for me or mine - but thanking God for ugliness, trials, setbacks etc is a step I've only adopted recently. Amazingly I have found this deepens faith - and my real joy in Christ. I didn't feel nearly so silly trying it after the first times. Been pondering the choice of joy lately, and found some quotes seem to go with my rambling thoughts. Here are some of them.

"Wisdom comes from God, and with God it shall remain.
Like the sounds of the seashore or the drops of the rain
or the days of eternity
Who can number these?
Who can explore heaven's heights of the depths of the seas?
Before all things were created, wisdom came to be.
The beginning of wisdom is the awesome fear of God"

John Michael Talbot "Wisdom"

"Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength."

Frances De Sales

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?"
"We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them."

Khalil Gibran

"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light."

"The only reward of virtue is virtue; the only way to have a friend is to be one."

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm."

"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn appreciation of honest critics and endure betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. - That is to have succeeded."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"...because a thankful heart is a happy heart. I'm glad for what I have - that's an easy place to start. For a God who really cares and who listens to my prayers - that's why I say thanks every day." from Madame Blueberry - Veggietales.