Yoj is joy spelt backwards.

God will turn mourning into gladness and sorrow 
into joy. 

by sherry

I forgot how good it feels not be in the presence of so much sorrow.

Not that Terence caused my sorrow. Cancer caused it. Sickness caused it. Death caused it.

He is gone now. Absent in body (but present with the Lord).  Daily suffering no longer taunts me; it no longer forces me to behold it's destruction upon the one I loved so dearly.

But the absence of suffering does not equate to joy.  The lasting kind of pleasure we all search for is called joy. It happens on the inside and works it's way outward.  It can come even in the midst of some of our deepest pain....and only then does a true transformation begin to take place. 

Transformation is a big business (it helps sell everything from new homes, to gym memberships, to make-up, to jewelry, to clothes, and to cars).  But the Bible sees transformation differently. Transformation involves us getting back in step with life. We’re brought back into an understanding of our purpose in this world.  When we see examples of transformation in Scripture, we don’t just see outward changes; we see inward changes. We see a new life that now lives to praise and glorify God.

That would be me!  I cried out to God from the depths of my despair and God answered!

Okay,  I admit some days are not perfect.  I'm still healing.  And on those days I may seem a little dyslexic and I sing for "yoj"  instead of "joy" but I mean well... and I'm trying.

 I look back to the days of my deepest sorrows and remember thinking I would give anything to live through a day with out this pain.....  mistakenly thinking that it's absence would bring joy.

Wrong. God turns our sorrow into joy (Jer. 31:13).


 My prayers are being answered and my heart is on the mend.  Instead of mourning I am beginning to dance and instead of wearing sackcloth of sadness, I'm clothed with joy and I can’t help but to praise God.

 I'm falling in love with life again. 

Miracles do happen.