The Potential of Joy

I've started this post a million times and got interrupted about that many times as well. I think I am trying to make things too complicated--I have a tendency to do that (maybe that is one of the keys to finding joy--simplifying my life--we'll save that one for another post!) I have a lot of thoughts running through my head, but I am going to overwhelm myself if I try to think about all of them at once, so I am breaking this up into baby steps for myself so I don't get overwhelmed and lose my focus and forget what I was doing in the first place (I have a tendency to do that as well!)

As I've thought about joy, I've read several scriptures and studied what joy is and come up with some conclusions as to why I feel so drawn to strive toward this goal of joy. I'm not going to list all of my findings and thoughts here because I might be here all day, but I want to record a few. 

The first is that I believe one of the very points for our existence is to have joy. It is what our Heavenly Father wants for us, and it is ultimately one of our rewards when we leave this earth life and return back into His presence. These are just a few of the scriptures that emphasize these points:

"Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." (2 Nephi 2:25)

"Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou in the joy of the lord." (Matthew 25:11)

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore." (Psalms 16:11)

To go with that, I have three other things for today. One is a quote that I saw painted on a plaque in a craft store many years ago, and which I based my personal viewpoint of home and family around even before I was married and had children. It is by President David O. McKay and idealizes what I really want my home to be. It states: "It is possible to make home a bit of heaven. Indeed, I picture heaven as the continuation of the ideal home." If the Lord's presence is where we can experience a "fulness of joy," it seems only right to me that in my home I should be striving to find and maintain joy as well to create my "heaven on earth."  

The next is I can't think of my home being a "heaven on earth" without having the hymn "Home Can be a Heaven on Earth" come to mind. Ironic that it's lyrics mention joy. This is just the first verse (maybe I'll post the other verses in another post :)

Home can be a heav’n on earth

When we are filled with love,
Bringing happiness and joy,
Rich blessings from above—
Warmth and kindness, charity,
Safety and security—
Making home a part of heaven,
Where we want to be.

(Hymns, no. 98)

If I want to experience true, everlasting joy in my home, I know I have a few things I need to work on (that's why I can't post the other verses today--baby steps!)

The last thing today is a recent quote by our prophet, President Monson, talking about our homes: "Our homes are to be more than sanctuaries; they should also be places where God's spirit can dwell, where the storm stops at the door, where love reigns and peace dwells . . ."

Joy is a gift. It is a gift and a fruit of the spirit, and the kind of joy that I am seeking cannot be felt and experienced without having my home and life filled with the spirit--again I've got some work to do, but I think I've found the right path and am starting to take baby steps to get there!