Re-blogged from Alison's blog, heperfectlypursues
A few friends and I meet every Wednesday to worship and pray
together. This past week, the mood seemed heavy. It had been raining all
day, it was freezing outside, and we are in the middle of midterms. It
was obvious that we were lacking joy and that we needed to come before
the Father to refocus and to cast our cares on Him. We worshiped and got
our minds off of ourselves and our circumstances and onto the Lord who
is sovereign, good, and wise. After a few songs, one of my friends asked
us the question: what gives you joy?
We all just sat there
for a moment and eventually started throwing things out there.
Just going to be real, watching Baby Mama brings me immense amounts of
joy. It then started to get more specific and personal…We are
all thankful that Ephesians 2 describes the reality of our lives. It
gives us joy that we were dead in our sin and separated from God when He
made a way through Christ for us to know Him and walk with him. We also
agreed that laughter and time spent with friends brings us much joy. The kindergarten
teacher in our group shared how she loves helping kids learn and obey.
The intern at a church said that he loves sharing what God is doing in
his life through sharing his testimony. I realized that nothing gives me
more joy than helping younger girls walk with Christ.
During my fall break a few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to spend 2
days in Chapel Hill. I literally got to sit outside the union one
afternoon as younger girls that I absolutely adore came to catch up with
me – one after another, hour after hour. I got to hear how some of
these girls that I discipled in college are now discipling freshmen at
UNC and they basically told me over and over again about how much they
love God. I seriously could not stop smiling the entire day.
I am so humbled at the goodness of God. He gives us gifts and
passions for His glory as well as our good – to serve others as well as
to give us joy. What are you passionate about? What part of God’s heart
and concern for the world has he given you? What present reality makes
you mad? What consistently comes to mind at random times of the day or
keeps you up at night? What is life-giving to you? What gives you joy?
Whatever it is, pursue it. I’m not kidding.
Alison Singewald says, "My life consists of God’s perfect pursuit of me and my imperfect yet
striving pursuit of Him. I grew up in Wisconsin but am more than content
living in North Carolina. I graduated in May 2011 from UNC-Chapel Hill
and will forever be a Tar Heel." Alison is currently pursuing her masters in
Biblical Counseling and LPC (licensed professional counseling degree
through the state) at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake
Forest, NC.
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