“Find the JOY in the Tender Mercies Everyday.”

So with the new year comes new thoughts and resolutions. Basically, I love new things and new beginnings! I have made a decision to make my resolution to find JOY… Go figure. I want to go month by month this year with ways we can ALL add extra Joy 2 our Journeys. I hope you are all ready for an adventure, together as we seek joy in this crazy

journey we call life.

  

Welp, for the first month we are focusing  small, then we will work our way up. So for the month of January we are going to, wait for it… 

“FIND THE JOY IN THE TENDER MERCIES EVERYDAY.” 

Sounds fun, right? I am pretty pumped, It will be like a game or a scavenger hunt, basically an adventure. But wait, what does that mean exactly? Well, looking for the tender mercies is looking for the

little beauties in everyday life. Often times I think we get so sucked into these little ruts of negativity, it gets hard to see the

beautiful things, or the tender mercies. I have come to the ultimate conclusion that no matter where you are or how low you get, there is ALWAYS a tender mercy near by. 

I know that things can get rough, I may be a happy go lucky (and may I say adorable) rodeo clown, but even we have bad days. I can attest to the JOY that can be found in finding those tender mercies. They may be hard to find but they are ALWAYS present in all moments.  

Okay, so how about a lil tender mercy example…? 

Well, I think it may be time for a story… 

Once upon a time I was traveling in the far away land of Virginia, very mysterious and adventurous, am I right?!? I was doing my

Clara-JOY duty of bringing JOY to the journey of my fellow travelers. I was with a faithful companion and we were determined in our task!

Peddling hard to bring JOY to the those in the darkness. There was only one problem, we were in our own little clouds of darkness (yes, even those with the goal of bringing JOY find themselves in dark places).

We had been working for many days, walking, biking, talking to everyone, and all in the cold autumn rain. There came a particular day

that seemed extra gloomy and the struggles were beginning to wear… As we walked by a small home with a beautiful garden, we noticed a sweet older lady with a beautiful flower dress. She was out tending

this beautiful piece of land given her. She beckoned for us to come to her. We tried to tell her how much we appreciated the beauty of her garden, but she did not speak our language, and didn't speak much at all.

Sometimes words are not needed, she smiled and took our hands and gave us each a beautiful yellow flower. We thanked her and went on our wet, but happier, way.

What can we take from this little story and the January theme to 

"FIND THE JOY IN THE TENDER MERCIES EVERYDAY." 

Well, there are three things I want to point out in finding tender mercies…  

1.  THEY ARE SOMETIMES VERY SMALL… 

Tender mercies don’t need to be big, sometimes they are as simple as a smile or a yellow flower. They can be big too, but when you are seeking them don’t always look big.

Sometimes the smallest things bring the biggest changes. After all, those on the Titanic thought it was only a small iceberg. That could be taken the wrong way, I don’t want you to sink, not by any means. I am just saying we do not always see the whole picture. By the way, I am not saying you can’t look for the big things, I am just saying you may have to keep your eyes extra peeled for the small stuff too. 

2.TENDER MERCIES DON’T TAKE AWAY THE HARDSHIPS…  

Sometimes we think that these good things will take away our problems. They won’t, hate to break it to you. We still had to walk the whole day in the rain and people still were grumpy about having us about, but that tender mercy kept us going and brought back our WHY to what we were trying to accomplish.

  

3.  THEY ARE MADE JUST FOR YOU, BUT SHARE THEM… 

Guess what? These tender mercies are everywhere for everyone. They are specially tailored for the individual. Sometimes what you see as a tender mercy will not be seen that way by someone else. That is just fine! Take those little gifts and treasure them. That being said, feel free to share them as

well, sometimes you might even open someone else's eyes to a tender mercy they didn’t even know existed. Then guess what? You get to be a tool in bringing tender mercies to others, they still may see it

different from you, but that is part of the fun!  When it comes down to it we are not alone in this scavenger hunt, so we might as well work together in this great endeavor.  

We have defined our tender mercies (check). We have given a small example(check).  

We have gone through some things to look for in our search(check).  

Now it is time to go forth and play! My little invite to you this month (and the rest of 2017) is to 

“FIND THE JOY IN THE TENDER

MERCIES EVERYDAY.” 

Doesn’t matter how big or small, find them,

apply them, be grateful for them, and share them... ALL! Keep an eye out for my little tender mercies coming your way!  

Thank you for reading and have a lil Joy2theJourney! 

With JOY,

 from Clara-JOY