Balloons ✓
Cake ✓
Dinner ✓

My checklist had been completed for my daughter’s surprise sweet sixteen. I was a mama on a mission as I rushed into the house from our homeschool community. But I came to a screeching halt when my husband prompted me to join him in our room. He had just been notified that he was going to be laid off.

As tears of shock streamed down my face, I felt a plethora of thoughts swirling in my mind. The honest truth is that the first one was to cancel the celebration. After all, we needed time to process this news. But as my husband and I looked at each other, we knew that was not even an option. In spite of what we heard, we agreed that we would not abandon our plans.

And so the evening continued as planned. My husband took our kids to the movies. I cleaned the house, decorated, and welcomed my daughter’s sweet friends. We all whispered and giggled as we waited for my daughter to come home. The surprised look on her face was priceless. She enjoyed her company and was mesmerized by her beautiful cake. Then, the girls and I headed off to the escape room where she and her friends cracked the code way before time ran out. Our home was filled with joy and laughter as they chatted through the night until the next morning.

When they left, my husband and I stood with full hearts. We were grateful to have an abundance of joy in our home at a time when we would have expected it to be drowned with sorrow.  It reminded us of times in the past when we had to choose to press on and to have joy in spite of our surrounding circumstances. It wasn’t an easy choice to celebrate anyway, but we did so with God’s help.

In Philippians 4:12 and 13, the apostle Paul states: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.”

I don’t know what you may be going through today dear Friend, but if you feel as if you have nothing to be happy about, I’d like to share with you what I told someone who was grieved by our situation. Yes, this is difficult but I have the privilege to experience a new day, I am surrounded by loving family and friends, and most importantly, I know that God, who is my Provider, is with me. Therefore, I am content.
~Joyce

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