by Nichola Mcclenaghan

Created on: May 07, 2009   Last Updated: May 20, 2009

At the moment I've an underarm abscess - battled with this a few years back and had to go to hospital to have it cut open (it was excruciating!). Fortunately, I think I've caught this one early enough for the antibiotics to wipe it out. Anyway, my motion is pretty limited with my arm and it's driving me up the wall (I need to be doing stuff!). So instead of focusing on how frustrated I feel, I'm taking time to type to people (with my good hand) words of encouragement as I'm truly thankful for their input into my life. I'm also enjoying hanging out with God and soaking up His goodness - detailing all the things I'm so thankful for!

My dad's been a paraplegic from the time he was 17 years old and is paralyzed from the waist down. I always thought I understood how difficult (understatement!) life was for him - until I ended up in a wheelchair in a New York airport (long story about a spider bite, leg swelling and not being able to walk for a few days!) and then I discovered I hadn't had a clue how hard it was for him. I wept in his arms when I got home as the small insight into his world broke my heart. Be thankful. And then focus on how you can help ease someone else's pain.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." Sir Winston Churchill

Think of a slingshot. What determines how far a stone from a slingshot will fly? The answer is: how far back you've pulled the band on the slingshot. If you study the lives of successful people, you will find that their success was not in spite of their life challenges but often because of them. They took what happened to them and used it to help them grow. They stopped telling everyone how much they were wronged and began to look for the blessings in their challenges. And looking, they found them. Their slingshot was pulled back far, but as a result, they soared even farther. - Will Bowen

You can complain because roses have thorns; or you can rejoice because thorns have roses. - Ziggy

Let me ask you something - who does God like to hang out with? Who does He meet with? God meets with those who rejoice! He likes happy people! Isa 64:5 "You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness, Who remembers You in Your ways".
One of the distinctive (this is what sets us apart from the rest of the world) about the people of God is they are like HIM - JOYFUL!

God is searching the earth for the joyful, singing, enthusiastic crowd who are happy. In His Presence is fullness of JOY. "Though the fig tree does not blossom and there's no fruit on the vine - YET will I rejoice in the Lord!"

The Bible is full of JOY! I've made my choice to be joyful - no matter what! It's my right as a believer and my strength when times are tough.

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