![I heard recently that the two most important needs for a human are to be fully and wholly loved and to be fully and wholly known. Having lost a child, there are things that I feel that not everyone can understand and leaves a lot to be desired on the fully and wholly known side of the equation.
On the eve of Mother’s Day and with Father’s Day on the horizon, it is important to point out that these holidays are not all the Hallmark commercials make them out to be. There are people who feel a hurt similar to ours in that they have children that they cannot hold, hug or see. On the flip side, there are children (of all ages) who can only imagine what their parents would be like or are trying to navigate the new normal without one or both. And a group that knows the hurt of missing both [parent(s) and child(ren)].
As these holidays creep up, say a prayer for the people that fall into any of the categories. Remember how blessed you are if you have both your children and your parents. Call or text someone you know who may be struggling with the holidays to remind them of the fact that they are known and loved by the people in their circle.
We know that only God can fully know and love us, but we also know that we are His hands and feet. The physical manifestation of a God that we cannot see.
To anyone that fits into any of these categories: I love you and pray you are able to find joy in a time you may very well dread.
To the people that have sent extremely thoughtful cards, flowers, gifts and messages: thank you for making this season more manageable. You are simply the best.
Counting it all Joie,
Ryce](https://i0.wp.com/www.rycespieces.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png?w=1100&ssl=1)
Joy is something that is near to my heart. I feel that my life has been a quest to fully understand what joy is. You can read my pharmacy journey here to see a glimpse of why. But I am constantly setting a new goal and working to achieve it. Along the way, I have had various challenges and disappointments, but in each of them, I’ve had a sense of joy because I knew/know that I am winning. You can’t always see initially, but the effort is working for you.
Subject: Joy
Joy is defined as the emotion evoked by well-being, success or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires. Reading the definition, it seems like joy is a synonym for happiness. In most cases, the words are used interchangeably, but they are two different things. How many times have you been in pursuit of a goal and felt proud of your progress, but the progress was just ugly? My guess is that you’re probably in that season right now. Even though everything isn’t always great, you have an anticipation or expectation because you’re working toward accomplishing something. That’s joy. (UPDATE: Given the state of our country, this is especially evident. I choose to believe that we are progressing, but boy is it ugly.)
Objective:
Since we’ve already created our template for what we are going to do each month, the task of copying prompts and setting up this month should be fairly easy. If you are finding this page first, check out my post on how to start journaling here, then pop back over to get the June prompts.
Use this optional prompt at the end of month. If you want to track any other memories, add them at the end of the month. This isn’t the primary focus, but it’s always fun to keep fun memories.
Here are a few of ideas for the end of the month recap:
- Write a summary of how reflecting on joy has made you better
- If you’ve had any big wins recently, write them down and journal about what it took to get there
- Create a plan for joy for the rest of the year
As you reflect this month, here are a couple of scriptures that can help remind you of what God’s word says about joy.
Actionable Item:
Last month we focused on being kind to ourselves and to others. Let’s build on that this month. In your pursuit of being kind, see how much of your kindness sparks joy. We all have experienced getting help from someone and felt more like we could reach our goals. You know what that feeling was? Joy. We were actively experiencing the kindness that another human turned into joy for us.
Throughout the month, see how you can keep the joy alive in your everyday life and maybe even spark joy in the people around you. (Recently, I’ve been passing out cookies)
Point of it all:
We have all experienced extreme happiness or sense of purpose. Whether it was waiting up the night before Christmas or walking down the aisle on our wedding day, the sheer excitement caused us to be optimistic for our futures. What do you think would happen if we actively sought after joy in our daily lives? What would we be able to accomplish? Where would the trajectory of our lives end up? We can choose joy every day this month and then every day for the rest of our lives then see what happens.
![I heard recently that the two most important needs for a human are to be fully and wholly loved and to be fully and wholly known. Having lost a child, there are things that I feel that not everyone can understand and leaves a lot to be desired on the fully and wholly known side of the equation.
On the eve of Mother’s Day and with Father’s Day on the horizon, it is important to point out that these holidays are not all the Hallmark commercials make them out to be. There are people who feel a hurt similar to ours in that they have children that they cannot hold, hug or see. On the flip side, there are children (of all ages) who can only imagine what their parents would be like or are trying to navigate the new normal without one or both. And a group that knows the hurt of missing both [parent(s) and child(ren)].
As these holidays creep up, say a prayer for the people that fall into any of the categories. Remember how blessed you are if you have both your children and your parents. Call or text someone you know who may be struggling with the holidays to remind them of the fact that they are known and loved by the people in their circle.
We know that only God can fully know and love us, but we also know that we are His hands and feet. The physical manifestation of a God that we cannot see.
To anyone that fits into any of these categories: I love you and pray you are able to find joy in a time you may very well dread.
To the people that have sent extremely thoughtful cards, flowers, gifts and messages: thank you for making this season more manageable. You are simply the best.
Counting it all Joie,
Ryce](https://www.rycespieces.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Leave a Reply