Special Neighbors spreading joy

Neighbors can be such a blessing and I have a cool story to share with you about a very special neighbor!

I grew up on the east side of MI & moved away to Traverse City in 5th grade. We had very special neighbors who brought lots of joy to my family back on the east side of MI. It was a hard goodbye but thankfully it was just a “see you later!”

Fast forward at least 10 years, I found myself at the same college in Holland Mi as the special neighbors son.

So we reconnected & then fast forward to a little less than a year ago. I was prayerfully considering to buy a home & a bit nervous with the big purchase.

As I discerned this purchase, to my joy & surprise, I had a realization that my old special neighbors son, was actually living across the street from the house I was prayerfully considering buying, WOAH!

Fast forward to today, the Dad of the son of those special neighbors from 5th grade who I moved away from, stopped by their sons house today (across the street from my home) & saw me landscaping, or at least attempting to, haha!

We chatted & he left for a bit to take care of some things. I thought to myself during that time, “man God I am so glad these special neighbors live across the street from me after all these years. It’s so comforting to even just say hello to them here and there.”

I had also been slightly concerned in my head thinking "how am I going to afford the landscaping I desire to do to this home? What should I prioritize first? I thought to myself, "mulch for sure" this thought had crossed my mind that afternoon and week prior.

Fast forward to about 5 minutes later, my special neighbor’s Dad shows up to my driveway with bags on bags of beautiful brown mulch.

He surprised me!! He shared it was meant to be a house warming gift. Wow. The generosity! The joy! The glad to be togetherness.

Not only did this Dad provide surprise mulch, he also helped me plant all these plants in the front yard.

This was a true gift and a blessing and every-time I look at the landscape, no doubt I will smile by this wonderful Dad’s and special neighbors gift.

Any good gift is a gift from the giver of life 🤍 James 1:17

Returning to joy from anxiety

It was my lunch break in between counseling sessions and I eagerly awaited calling customer service with the company that holds my retirement money. It’s a new season full of transitions and I am holding the tension of enjoying the freedom in being self employed and also holding the stress of developing long term financial planning on my own.

Customer service representatives have a tough job! Their job requires them to take call after call of potentially high strung, stressed out, and concerned individuals on the other side of the line. Today, I was one of those individuals. I called, became more flustered than I already was, felt discouraged, and ended the phone call due to my next counseling session appointment coming up. Ughhh, that didn't feel good.

Before I knew it, time had flown, it was time for me to start another counseling session, and I felt, to put it plainly, mentally and emotionally depleted. My back was tense, shoulders shrugged, my heart and head felt heavy. How was I to return to joy in less than a minute, and be glad to see this loyal client of mine who has come so far in their healing journey?

The truth is, I had to muster up a smile, I had to practice some quieting skills on the go, and as I conversed with this client, I intentionally needed to fight off distracting thoughts about the disappointing phone call with customer service I had just had (Note to future self, don’t try to get your retirement questions answered on your lunch break in between counseling sessions).

Here I am with this client, a complex trauma survivor with a history once so broken, now on its way towards greater redemption as time goes on. We briefly chat about the past week, we dive in. We decide to dwell on this client’s accomplishments this year. No impatient hospital visit last year, no suicide ideation in 6+ months, this client is starting to dream, not dream again, but dream for one of the first times in her adult life. For one of the first times in her adult life, she is starting to think ahead rather than just try to survive through the throws of today, jump through the hoops of depression and PTSD, she is dreaming of what she might become and create in her future. She has hope. I’m reflecting on these milestones with this client, my heart and body is starting to feel lighter, more present, I can feel a genuine smile crossing my face.

We, my client and myself, together, decide to take the reflecting a step further and seek what Immanuel says about the client’s personal growth and development so far. We both close our eyes, we ask Jesus to share with us what He thinks about her growth and development, and how he feels about us reflecting on it.

I feel tears well up in my eyes, though they are still shut. I sense His peace and enjoyment over this client. I sense his admiration for this client. I sense His Joy over this client. Within seconds, my previous worries, frustrations, and anxieties about my retirement account and money fade away. I am relishing in His delight over this client. My body feels peace, warmth, and relaxation again. I have found my best self again. I have returned to joy from anxiety and fear.

It would be like God to use dwelling on the growth and healing of another, to help me return to my best self again. It would be like God to use a counseling session, to teach me an important lesson, too, to remember not to worry but to appreciate the good stuff. It is like God, to delight in this client. It is like God, to help me return to joy when I experience big, negative emotions. It is like me, to write about this ordinary moment that became extraordinary, because appreciation, brought me back to joy, appreciation, brought me back to myself, God’s peace, and being present with this very special client of mine I have the privilege of visiting with on a regular basis.

Psalm 18:19 He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Mathew 6:25-34  “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing,  yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are.  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Spreading joy at the Grocery Store

I made goodie bags full of candy and notes off encouragement and handed them out to workers at Meijer on the way to my families thanksgiving get together. This is a simple, yet profound way to help others experience and spread Joy, too!

The smiles of people’s faces and verbal appreciation that was expressed when handing out treat bags to the workers at Meijer were priceless, a sign that Joy is being experienced and that Joy is being spread!

What can you do to go out and show grocery store workers on a Holiday that they are seen, loved, and cared about?

One way to experience more Joy in your own life is to actually go out and spread it to others. There is a mutual benefiting factor because when one person’s face lights up with Joy, it’s contagious, and usually spreads to the other person near them. Our brains are deigned to flourish of of Joy so let’s go spread that Joy, our brains will thank us for it!

Experiencing joy in Cambodia

I recently had an opportunity to visit some friends in Cambodia and I learned something about Joy while there. The power of a smile can produce transferable joy. At times I felt sad, wishing I could speak the language more easily, I wanted to relationally connect with the locals. Yet while I did not speak the native language in Cambodia, there were plenty of opportunities to genuinely smile to those I interacted with. There was one moment in particular, I had just got off a small "tuk tuk" vehicle (look it up if you haven't heard of one, they're cool!) with some friends, was walking into a market and saw an individual reading a book quietly. We made eye contact and a big smile came to my face and I noticed a big smile on theirs too. In that moment I experienced peace, lightness, and happiness. I wanted that person to know they were loved and am hoping that smile interaction communicated just that, they're loved. I know for me, their smile communicated I was loved, just that small, little interaction, and it was beautiful. 

May we never underestimate experiencing and spreading joy through a smile, wherever you are. 

Spreading joy at Goodwill

Today a couple Joy Makers and I were running a couple errands, one being to drop some donations off at Good Will Thrift Store here in West Michigan. Of course, we decided to bop in and peruse the isles of the store looking for treasures and as we were doing that, an idea came to mind. What if we were to place notes of encouragement around the store, hiding in the nooks and cranny's where soon to be thrifted treasures would be found? So that is what we did. We grabbed a couple of Joy Makers note cards, filled them out with whatever encouragement came to mind, and then the adventure began. We placed a card or two in a show box, behind a kitchen appliance, next to a pantry item, and much more. We felt excited, happy, and filled with Joy to take an ordinary moment at the Goodwill Thrift store, becoming something extraordinary.

Spreading joy at the gas station

The other day a Joy Maker and I went out to run some errands. As we were filling up gas in the car, we decided to stop in the gas station to spread Joy via gifting the cashier with a gift card to a local coffee shop nearby, just because. As we were waiting in line, the Joy Maker with me felt a little nervous, excited, and maybe experienced some butterflies in the stomach, adrenaline rushing, “how will the recipient of this gift card respond? Will they like it, will they think it’s weird?” She thought. As the line got smaller and it became our turn, I realized to my surprise, I already knew the cashier, it was a friend of mine and she had just happened to start her work shift! The other Joy Maker with me was able to hand the gift card to the cashier (my friend) and said something along the lines of “this is for you, we are just trying to spread Joy and wanted to spread Joy to you!” And off we went, back at it with running errands, walking away all three of us, myself, the other Joy Maker, and my cashier friend. The other Joy Maker and I felt joy, and gratitude for having that opportunity to spread Joy and we hope it brought Joy to my cashier friend, too.