Thankful Thursday: Rejoice in the Lord

Philippians 4:4-7

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Let your gentleness be evident to all.
The Lord is near.
Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Iris shared that Philippians is one of her favorite books. It is mine, too. This verse in particular is near and dear to my heart. When I found out I was pregnant with my second daughter over six years ago, I was overwhelmed. Life was very stressful and I was anything but joyful. God brought this verse across my radar screen a dozen times and I began the process of memorizing it--or at least the jist of it. It even influenced the naming of our daughter, as we gave her "Joy" to be her middle name.

Well, our little bundle of joy debuted and declared to the world that she was anything but joyful. For the first two years of her life, she was fussy, fitful, cranky, and tearful. Nothing brought her comfort as an infant and everything brought on her temper as a toddler. My knees were bruised from the hours of "beside myself" praying. I would repeat over and over again, "Rejoice in the Lord, always. Again I say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all for the Lord is near." It was as much for my benefit--reminding me to be thankful and gentle--as it was a pleading pray for my daughter.

As she grew, we prayed this Scripture prayer together each time she was discipline. We went around cheering and chanting, "Joyfully obey, hey!" each time she was about to spiral down into a fit. I prayed it every time I would spiral into my own pit of anger and frustrating toward at being her mom!

God answered our desperate prayers for little Joy Bug, as she is so appropriately nicknamed. I am not kidding you! She is the MOST JOYFUL member of our family with the MOST GENTLE HEART toward others. She is tender toward God's truth and continually the first to remind us to pray and give thanks to the Lord for anything and everything. And her teachers have continually remarked, "What a JOY she is to have in class! She is so gentle and caring!" We were shocked, because even at 3, 4, and 5, this was not how we would describe her at home. But now, as she is just days away from turning 6, is certainly describes who she is and how she lives out her life both in and out of the classroom!

So today, this Thankful Thursday, I thank the Lord for the work He has done in our Joy Bug--for the testimony she is to me personally, about the transforming power of God through prayer and patience. I thank God that He brought her into our lives, even at a tumultuous time. And I thank God that she is the one in our family that continually teaches us what is looks like to be joyful...especially to the Lord!

I was planning on sitting out of Thankful Thursday today, only because I know I won't have the time to visit everyone's post. I have few precious hours to spend with my sister-in-law before she heads overseas again to serve for another year and half. Today is our day to be together and to work on a blog that I'm building for her! But I couldn't help to offer my thanks to the Lord in response to the verse that Iris posted. Thanks for letting me be a part of this day of giving thanks. In my heart, I will be thanking God for all of your posts!

Be sure to head over to Sting My Heart to read more Thankful Thursday thoughts!