There are a lot of things that can still our joy and one of the biggest is when we are feeling like we are behind, forgetting things, or just not able to keep up.  When we talk about balance, we believe that it is possible when you put God first, live in community, and follow systems that help you stay in balance. This recipe works for balance and it also works for joy.  When we look at that last one, we can struggle because it takes time to get a system in place and things are always changing. For example, I have always worked best when things are in silos. Time with the kids...silo...meaning when I am with them, I am with them and just focused on that.  Same with work.

However, many of us have faced a lot of changes over the last year and a half and a lot of our silos have changed, merged, and life is not as clean cut as we maybe have enjoyed it in the past.  This makes finding the right systems more difficult and sticking to systems feeling impossible.

But, have hope!  I refuse to be defeated by the blessings that God has given me.  Let me repeat that.  

Juggling school stuff, social stuff, strengthening a marriage, taking care of my body, my home, managing my finances, and using my gifts at work are all blessings.  These things can cause stress, but I don’t think that these things or the stress of trying to do all these things and more are a cause to give up on systems thus giving up on balance and joy.

So how do we manage all the chaos?

1.  Get clear on what success looks like to you and how you define balance
2. Focus on one system at a time.  The great thing with systems is that they can cover mutli areas of life.  Start with something like your weekly prep.
3. Put time aside for planning.  This is self care. Weekly, daily is most important.
4. Don’t try to change your natural planning and operating patterns.  If you are a paper person, go with it. If you prefer digital, go with it.  Once you get systems down, then you can improve on those systems and how you do them.  Just because you heard about how someone else does stuff doesn’t mean you have to do it.  Example: Asana and Sunsama, google calendar vs. hand written to do lists and a planner
5. Give yourself grace.  It’s all an experiment in what works.  Know that what you are doing now will change when school starts.  It will change again when the weather changes, and when the holidays come.  It will always be changing so focus on the time you set aside and how you sort through the chaos.  The details will change but the foundations of the systems don’t have to.

Do you know one way to get joy?  Give joy!  Yep, making an effort to make other’s day, in turn, makes yours.  We are built for community and when we serve others, there is a part of us that comes alive!

But, like a lot of good things in this world, we can forget just how easy this is.  We make it harder than it has to be, our own insecurities can get in the way, and well, sometimes we are just so busy that we forget to think about it.

Well, guess what?  Together, we are going to remind each other of just how powerful and simple this can be.  

“Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.” Proverbs 11:25

So how can we make this simple and remember to do it?  That is what we are going to talk about in this episode and I am so excited about the action items from this week’s action items.  You can literally do a few of them while you are still listening to this podcast!

• Watch your face

• Reach out and text someone

• Serve strangers like they were Jesus

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’   Matthew 25:40

• Greet others with excitement, love, and like they are the most important person

• Use your gifts in the small humble ways

• Pray for the people you see.  Give me your eyes by Brandon Heath.  Exercise your empathy and ask God how you can serve those around you. 

We all serve our families….but are we doing it in a joyful way or are we building resentment and looking to see if our husbands are doing as much as we are or even just grumble when we do laundry.  

But when we don’t serve our families with joy….it just brings more non-joy feelings to our life.

Remember last week when we talked about Joy being a fruit of the spirit.  When we follow the instructions for life in the bible, it moves us closer to experiencing these fruits including joy.

Again, it’s not that we are not serving our family.  We are taking care of the kids, cleaning the house, prepping meals, shopping, taking care of doctor appointments, medications, school involvement and so much more.  The issue isn’t doing it...it’s the spirit in which we do that can be an issue.

I know for me, I want to serve my family with joy but our intentions and reality are not always the same. I have been praying about this for a bit of time and the one thing that God showed me was this.

There are three things that keep me from experiencing joy in serving my family.

1. Forgetting that this is what God created me to do.  When I lose focus on the biblical principles at play, I get focused on the equality of the housework, and my own needs above the needs of my family.
2. Reactive.  When I plan my schedule and to-do list tightly and I get interrupted to fill a need, I lose it.  There is no joy there.
3. When I become a martyr and not take care of my own needs.

Can you relate to these?  Let’s talk about some solutions.  

1. Get in the word of God.  If you are in the Life Balance Membership, take the Setting Goals in God’s will Bible study...pay special attention to the parenting, marriage, and home versus.  When we can make the bible personal to use and remember the instruction for our creator it makes all the difference.  Life gets noisy so we have to ensure that we are tapped into the vine often and not allow the world to disconnect us.
2. Ok, I am not a fan of the whole take care of yourself before you talk care of anyone movement.  And here is why….it’s a slippery slope.  But we do have to take care of ourselves.  This is what that looks like:   Remember, there is no reward for taking care of everyone else and not yourself.
3. Reactive vs proactive.  I don’t like to be interrupted.  I find that the older I get, the more I don’t like it.  I don’t see this changing anytime soon.  But, when I can serve my family by being proactive about their needs it does two things...1. It focuses my heart and mind on them and what they might need from me. And 2. It allows me to show my love for them and allows them to experience that love.  Give them space (treat others how you would want to be treated) which means creating white space when they are around.

Welcome to our summer joy series!  The next 4 episodes are designed to help bring more joy into your life and this episode we are kicking it off by talking about what Joy is.

Joy is the silence of striving.  It’s more than contentment...it’s like a mix of gratitude and contentment.  It comes from the inside and is not swayed by outside circumstances.  Fruit of the spirit is like real fruit.  It needs to be attended to for healthy growth and it takes time.  So how do you get there?

1. Accept the holy spirit
2. Grow in your faith by
   1. Reading the word of god
   2. Pray and have quiet time with the Lord
   3. Drown out the world and make God bigger

Worship and song is a great way to do this.  For one, it has a big influence on our thoughts and emotions like nothing else can.  If you need to renew your mind and keep your spirit in alignment with God vs the world, this a great way to do it.  

When it comes to summertime, music provides such a big part of the season.  I have many memories of summer concerts, driving with the windows down and the radio up, and music playing while playing in the background while we play in the water, the backyard, or camp.

Adding in an awesome summer soundtrack can have a big impact on the joy that you experience this season.  The words and melody that you hear and sing along with will impact your heart and mind.  This keeps you in alignment with God, growing you faith and growing in the fruit of the spirit.