JOY...

Taken toward my end of my second lot of chemo...  bloated, unable to see very well, tired all the time, hair  hanging in there but looking strange...  it used most of my energy just to lift my head, let alone have a smile...  but the JOY of His salvation, comfort and presence never left...  Boy do I want to know that JOY more and more, deeper and deeper...

JOY is a fruit of the spirit that grows in us the deeper we walk with Jesus.  Happiness is our reaction to our circumstances.  JOY is our spirits response to the grace of our salvation.
My sense is that our JOY need not disappear as we go thru a trying time... tho we may become unhappy, sad, frustrated or unsure.  Evidence of these yucky feelings doesn't mean we have lost our joy.
My experiance has been, that when I allow myself to wallow into self-pity...  I start to loose my joy.  I have been very aware of my JOY, even tho my inital response to a difficulty has been less that happy:) Oh the release of tears... oh the freedom to be unhappy about something that makes me feel that way.  But, thank you Lord for the caution... to keep your perspective and not embrace self pity.  Easier than it sounds...