Yay!

I just laid my two-year-old sister, Maddie Katie, down for her nap. She is getting to the age where she had decided that naps are overrated and some days you have to chase her around the house in order to get her to bed. Despite her protesting to take a nap today, she is sitting in her bed now saying "Yay! Yay! Yaaaaaaay!" It is pretty funny. I taught Maddie how to say "yay" and I love it when she says it. She has a little bit of Southern twang to her voice when she says it and it is so cute!

The bible says that we are to rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Philippians 4:4) This is a very clear command in the bible and I think that it is pretty cool that the command is repeated. I listened to a sermon by Francis Chan on this verse and he found that it is actually the only command in the bible that is repeated. It must be incredibly important to God that we are rejoicing in him ALWAYS. To me, A good place to start living out this verse is by just being a joyful person. My desire is to reflect Christ and His love. How is anyone going to see His light in me when I walk around looking like a stressed out grouch all the time? Its not going to happen. Sure, we all have our bad days, but just like Maddie Kate reminded me today...

...it is possible to be joyful; rejoicing in the Lord, even
when you are doing something you don't want to (like taking a nap...or doing homework haha).

Have you said "yay" today?