{"id":8635,"date":"2021-09-20T17:17:13","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T17:17:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=8635"},"modified":"2021-09-20T17:17:26","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T17:17:26","slug":"allow-the-joy-invaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=8635","title":{"rendered":"Allow the “joy invaders”"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This may seem random, but I have a feeling it may help some of you.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I was putting away a Pyrex casserole pan on the top shelf of my cabinet. I have 6-7 of these nested together up there, and to protect them from each other, I’ve separated them with a napkin or paper towel…<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Pyrex in question is the third smallest in size, so I removed the two smaller ones and fished around up there for the napkins to keep numbers 4, 3, and 2 separated. There I found an old bedraggled snowman napkin, wrinkled from service. And something about that snowman napkin made me happy! <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A boost to my spirit and an injection to my memory banks of Christmas cookies and glittering lights flashed for the moment into my being, and I realized I had taken a mini vacation of seconds from the strife, stress, and contention of now. The “happy wash” has lingered, and I am better for it.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Wherever your headspace is, take time NOW, on the cusp of autumn, to ENJOY whatever sweet, thoughtful, even very small thing that manages to bring a smile, and be aware that you have the RIGHT and the RESPONSIBILITY to allow yourself to “joy” throughout your day. This will keep your mental health (and likely physical health) in a better space!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Yes, stuff is happening out there; many of us feel we are in a war zone NOT of our choosing. We must deal with so much that makes us uncomfortable; but for the sake of your soul, allow for joy to break through anyway!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I believe this will help ME to endure; I KNOW there is ALWAYS something to be thankful about, and despite the fact that I will continue to “stand on my post”, keeping watch and praying, I will let joy and gladness invade my moments to aid and strengthen my soul. Don’t discount those little “joy invaders”!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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And to clench it all, this is how I choose to see our present struggles, both personal and national: “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…” 2 Corinthians 4:17<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No matter how you view it, you will win if you are in Christ. Might as well embrace the snatches of joy along the way. \ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Dorothy<\/div>\n
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\u00a9 Dorothy Frick, 2021<\/div>\n
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This may seem random, but I have a feeling it may help some of you. \u00a0 I was putting away a Pyrex casserole pan on the top shelf of my cabinet. I have 6-7 of these nested together up there, and to protect them from each other, I’ve separated them with a napkin or paper […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayerperspective"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8635"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8637,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8635\/revisions\/8637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}