Friday, Oct 10th - Hero: Joy

I have some beautiful silver plaques hanging on the walls of my house; they say things like Believe, Prayer, Family, Faith, and Joy.

The one that says Joy is not the biggest, but it is on the wall directly across from where I sit in the evenings, so I look at it the most.

Joy is one of the most powerful 3 letter words in our vocabulary. It is one of the most used words in the Bible. It's a definition all within itself. I think of it as an emotion that bubbles up from within and it is impossible to be feeling Joy and not show it. We should embrace life and the Joy it can bring.

It's a great big word.

It's also the name of one of the most beautiful women I have ever known, Joy Faye Smith. She is my aunt, through fate not family. She made the journey into God's presence last week, bringing more Joy to Him, but taking a bit of it from our world.

This is hard to talk about, and probably hard to read, but it has been consuming my thoughts and I think there is much to learn from really untimely deaths. After all, reflection is the only way to get a good look at our souls.

Joy was one of 'those' people that, if you are incredibly luckly, come into your life and show you what its like to be selfless. To truly care more about others than yourself. Joy was infinitely interested in other people. She was a great listener and an even better encourager. She just always made me feel worthwhile. I know that I wasn't the only one, either. It was evident at her funeral. The pastor that delivered her eulogy talked about Joy having a PROFOUND effect on his life. That was a great way to describer her. Profound.

She raised two incredible children who loved her in a way that most mothers dream their children will love them. It's the same way my family loves my grandma. It's a protective love, and a 'I can't believe God loved me enough to give me her' love, and a 'How am I supposed to live without her' love. Whew..

But, we can live without them, because of what they give to us while they are here. Lessons through the way they lived their lives, successes and mistakes, strengths and weaknesses. Stories told, values shared, disciplines passed on. We always want more, because we are human. But a divine God knows exactly what we need and how much we need, and that is exactly what we get. That's not much comfort to Joy's children, or especially my uncle. He literally has had the Joy taken out of his life. I know what a tremendous effect she had on me just in the small doses I was with her, so I can't even imagine his loss. They were best friends, peas n carrots, two souls merged into one. Thank God he has the kids and grandkids. They will bring lots of 'joy' to him.

A lot of these thoughts have been swirling around, and as most people do when a person close to us passes on, I have been thinking about legacies. We should aim to have a legacy that speaks more about our love for our families than our love for our work. I have always put so much into my job, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but I have so many regrets when it comes to my family. I want to be a great mother and grandmother (God willing), and a great wife, and a great friend. I want to leave behind so many great memories that everyone who knew me will have a funny story to tell.

Shouldn't that be everyone's goal? Leave the world a better place than how you found it? Everyone who met Joy came away better off for it. That's a very worthy goal to have. And it is acheivable, really.

Wake up each morning and make the decision to embrace the JOY within you, and banish the sadness, anger, and guilt that can become the norm. I promise you if you do that, not just today and tomorrow, but EACH day. You will be that person. The one that when people say your name, they say it with a smile.

Peace, Love, and GOD,
Tracy