He Bought Me a Pressure Washer

Rev. Shelby Rowan, Adinamarie Stein

Description

The devotional questions and accompanying photographs about living joyously make up a study you can do on your own, or with your family or friends.

Joy is an internal condition given to us by the Holy Spirit, unlike happiness, which comes when someone or something fills a much, desired need in your life. God is Joy; the final treasure we hope to spend eternity with. Living a joy filled life begins by loving who we are. And loving who we are, starts by applying the trinity of joy God gives us because He loves us unconditionally. God made us in His image; His image of joy. He asks that our daily quest be to seek out Joy, choose Joy, and make Joy in our lives and the lives of others.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Living
• Questions
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• Devotional
• Devotion
• Question (disambiguation)
• Joy
• Children
• Faith

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 05 mai 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664259751
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Copyright © 2022 Adinamarie Stein Rev. Shelby Rowan.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.



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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

ISBN: 978-1-6642-5974-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-5975-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022903977



WestBow Press rev. date: 05/04/2022
Ecclesiastes 3:4 tells us there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” From Ecclesiastes, we learn that life experiences come in contrasting pairs. In the last couple of years most of us have experienced “a time to weep and a time to mourn”. Conversely, many have also made “time” to look for the silver lining. We are not promised a life free of adversity, and we cannot blame God for the tragedies of the world. He does not will harm on His children. Like His only Son, He sent you and I to bring hope and joy to people who are hurting. The last couple of years reminded me that God gave us the ability to choose - free will. He wanted us to choose to love Him. Likewise, the choice is ours to see God’s love and joy in our lives when faced with any hardship.
In this devotional we offer you a time of laughter. As you answer the questions in this devotional, we pray the words spark joy filled memories from your life as they did in our lives as we wrote the devotional. And we pray you discover the value of applying the trinity of joy in your life. We learned that laughter is a prayer God loves to hear when we seek joy, or choose joy, or make joy in our own lives and the lives of others.
Thank-you for allowing me
to share God’s presence in
my life through the lens of
God’s camera.
Photographs by Adinamarie Stein
Written by Adinamarie Stein Rev. Shelby Rowan (aka Mom)
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Joy – Moose Brainard Lake, Colorado
You may recall from my previous devotional titled Headed North , that 2020 was the year I was going to retire, put the cat in the camper van, pack some shoes, and head out on an adventure with God. Wow was I wrong! I pondered in the last devotional whether heading out on a new adventure with God was what I wanted to hear, or what God was whispering in my ears. Maybe I did “hear what I wanted to hear”, as the saying goes. I don’t believe that is true, but perhaps it wasn’t the right time. I continue to trust God’s word, that “There is a time for everything.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
With some guilt because COVID was rearing its ugly head, I did go ahead and retire in 2020. I am sure God had that timing right. I then spent the next 4 months making it “a time to tear down and a time to build”. (Ecclesiastes 3:3) I tore apart a campervan and put it all back together again thinking COVID would be over any day so I could get going. It is with some disappointment that I tell you the only place the campervan went the first year after it’s remodel was to my mom’s house, so I had a place to sleep while I helped her with some purging chores. ( Adina is allowed to sleep in the house, but Oreo and I have some allergy issues, and she chooses not to have the cat sleep alone in the camper van. – Mom)
A little disillusioned occasionally over the timing of the plans I made (note I did say I MADE), which did not line up with the challenges COVID presented to the world, I prayed for God to help me see the joy that surrounded me every day. God answered my prayer by teaching me Trinity of Joy:
• Sometimes you must seek joy when you can just see God’s joyous light on the horizon.
• Sometimes you must choose to be filled with joy when you have other options.
• Sometimes you must make joy when ash is falling from the sky, and you cannot see His light at all.
A Linus Blankie - Oreo
Wisdom of Blue Joy: Seeking and choosing His joy are what help us face the blue rooms in our lives.
Why do we choose blue rooms?
We bought a house in 2020, which is normally a joyous occasion, but due to COVID, we had to buy it sight unseen. I DO NOT recommend buying sight unseen! When we were finally able to see the house, 6 weeks later, men from the handyman service hired from afar to take the wallpaper off the walls before we got there, were in the house taking down wallpaper. Talk about a time for crying! The wallpaper was mostly off the walls. However, worse than on the walls, it was glued to the tile floor, where they dropped the wet paper as they peeled it off. I was sure the tile, which I intended to keep temporarily, was ruined.
For a person who has a propensity for over-cleanliness, ( That is putting it mildly! – Mom) I was horrified by the filthiness of every square inch of the house. It felt like “a time to weep”. (Ecclesiastes 3:4) We picked what appeared to be the cleanest bedroom to temporarily set up a trundle bed to sleep on. Then, I put Oreo under the covers because he feels safe there. Turns out he was so horrified by the status of the house (that might be my putting words in his mouth) and the multitudes of handymen in and out, that he stayed there for a week.
I wanted to hide with Oreo, but the air-conditioner was not working, it was HOT, and I was dripping! It was time to stop focusing on my unhelpful negative feelings and choose to be filled with the joy this new house offered me. James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance.” Throwing a temper tantrum in front of the handymen might not have been what God had in mind when He asked me to be His light, so I jumped in to help, determined to persevere.
At some point, I asked the handyman crew to take out the 4x8 foot mirror in the hallway and the mirrors in both bathrooms that were disintegrating. In fairness to them, they did ask me a couple times if I was sure I wanted ALL the mirrors out. I said, “yes”. Imagine my bewilderment when I got out of the shower the next morning (which is distressing in-and-of itself, in a house filled with men who are strangers) dried my hair and had no visual aid for the curling of my unruly, uncut COVID hair. I had to laugh at myself. Later that day my caring husband did discover there was a tiny bathroom in the unattached garage, and it had a mirror. He is my Superman!
I started helping by painting the aqua blue bedroom. There was a dead cockroach on the walls, and that was the cleanest thing on the walls in that room. The walls were also covered in push pins and staples. I scrubbed walls in my COVID mask for 3 hours, and then patched at least 1000 tiny holes. It did not matter how many men were in the house, a shower was a given. Why did I choose a house with a blue room? I did not, I chose the adventure. The blue room existed to remind me that sometimes I need to choose joy in my own life. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” I could have hidden under the covers with Oreo, allowing my spirit to be crushed by the overwhelming dirtiness of the new house, but I turned the blue room into a beautiful room and found joy in the process.
Smile – Dolphin - Everglades National Park Florida
Wisdom of Exasperated Joy: When blue is overwhelming your life, God reminds us that simply choosing to smile and trusting in Him will save us from drowning in a sea of blue.