I remember thinking, “If they close our beaches I am going to cry.” Then a few days later our beaches closed and I started feeling really restless. How am I going to do this without having certain outlets that have always helped me feel more peaceful and joyful? As I was praying about it, the Lord impressed upon me, “you will find new joy. Try new things, and you will discover new joy.”
This hopeful thought was such an aha moment for me. Of course there is new joy to be discovered. I mean why should I be surprised, God is the author and creator of joy. One of the traits God produces in us is joy when we tap into it!
Friends, we are all finding ourselves in new territory. Our routine and normalcy has been flipped on its head. Earlier in the spring, the Lord gave me a verse to dwell on for this season (before the coronavirus was even a thought). “Behold I am doing something new. I will make a way in the wilderness.” At the time I thought that was just about the changing of seasons from winter to spring…little did I know all that would entail. Click HERE for that pre-corona blog post!
As I think about that verse and the idea of uncovering new joy in this season, my new prayer is that I would have eyes to see new joy. May I sit in this newness and see God working, still present, and inviting me to join him in newness.
I love the song from Elevation Worship: The Blessing.
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you.
As we were singing it in church (via livestream), the Lord showed me one new joy. Our family has never taken communion together before, and every week of quarantine church my kids have been so excited about preparing it and serving it. It may just be bread and gatorade (using what is in our pantry! haha), but it is one thing that has made my heart thankful. Who knew I would find joy in bread and gatorade?! Quarantine joys are definitely humorous at times.
Behold he is doing something new.
Something new in my family.
Something new in my restless heart.
I want to lean into that this week. Because I will emerge from this quarantine and I will be different. Whether I have noticed my heart changing or not. So I really want to take some time to look around and ask God to show me more. What newness is he doing in me and around me? When I find my heart restless, I want to ask him to help me find new joy. He has been faithful to show me some new joy already! Here are a few of my new quarantine joys:
My boys love playing soccer and play it 24/7. I do not love playing soccer so I have struggled to find some activities that I enjoy doing with them. But through this quarantine, we have enjoyed bike riding together, playing board games, corn hole, and bucket list activities (click HERE for our quarantine bucket list). I’m so grateful that we have gotten to explore lots of different activities together because of this extended time.
I have found gardening to be very therapeutic. Just being outside and cleaning up our yard, planting flowers has helped me not only have something to do, but to also see beauty unfold!
One of the ways I feel most loved is through quality time. So you can imagine, my heart is full from all this quality time with the ones I love most. Literally almost too much quality time. haha!
Loving others intentionally: We’ve been sending random gifts to my brother in NYC every week. He loves gifts and it is a small way to bring some joy to him when he is cooped up in his apartment all day long. It’s easy to be self focused in a time like this, but thinking of others has helped me find more joy.
Discovering new places in our city: New trails, new parks…changing up our routine a little by getting out and trying something new has been awesome! If you are in Savannah, a hidden gem we discovered was Wesley Gardens. We saw some friends venturing there, and so we emailed the director and found it open to the public as long as you let them know when you would like to come! It’s beautiful and relaxing!
When my heart feels restless and tired this week. I can remember, I’m not stuck. Behold he is doing something new in me, now it springs forth! When I don’t see it or feel it, I can remember to ask God to give me eyes to see.
What about you? What new joys have you uncovered through quarantine? Where are you struggling to see new joy?
