Delighted by Joy

On Saturday, my sister-in-laws and I hosted a Baby Shower for my pregnant sister-in-law. We hosted about 20 women at our new apartment. They day went fabulously. It was beautiful weather, the food and drinks were delightful, and it is safe to say that everyone had a pleasant time. It was nice to catch up with friends, but as well meet some new ones in between the duties of hosting.

When I woke up on the day of the Baby Shower, it wasn’t difficult to put my own needs aside and focus on the goal of the day, to put together this party for the guests and of course my sister-in-law. Although I was busy from 6:30 am till 8:30 pm, it was amazing how much joy I had through it all. Towards the end of the day, I asked myself, how could I have so much joy and peace during such a frantic day, where I barely had 10 minutes for me?

The answer lies in two places: expectations and mission. When we wake up with the idea, today is a day to serve others rather than myself. How does the outcome of our day differ? I’ve come to learn, that when I say I am going to serve others, often, I, in tern, end up having a day full of delightful little surprises from those around me.

When we do not expect anything in return, we give no room for disappointment. Joy is the foundation of our day.

When we live with a purpose and a mission during the day, we will enter into a deep peace. Everyday can have a purpose, not only when we host a party, give a presentation, help another person out, etc. I believe, when we follow Jesus each day, our purpose on this earth is to simply be love. However that may look in our lives—through the big and small things.

Mission is essential to a healthy organism and organization, when we lose sight of our mission, we lose sight of our purpose. Without a purpose, we become more susceptible to lose sight of hope and without hope, well, we are hopeless.

So I encourage you all to reflect on what your mission is today? Where are areas in our lives where unwise expectations may lie? How can we begin to start living more purposefully in our day to day lives?