Well, it’s Friday and time to settle in my fellow bloggers at Lisa Jo’s place (http://lisajobaker.com/). You know, it’s where we go to ferret out our thoughts on a specific prompt word in just five minutes. It’s amazing what comes out … not always great but always honest.

This week, the word is JOY. You can really go in a lot of directions — and some of the hundreds who join me in this exercise have taken most of them — with the word. I chose to follow through on the first thing that crossed my pea brain.

So, here goes. The timer is set, GO …

Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:5b

I would often say this to my wife and kids when they were stressing over something — finances, boyfriend/girlfriend problems, physical maladies, other issues. And they would look at me with a blank look and ask me how I could be so positive.

Positive? No. Realistic? Yes.

Life happens. It’s cyclical. There are good times and bad times. There are times when you want to stay huddled under the covers. But there is a time to shout with joy when morning light pierces that darkness.

I know where they’ve been. When Karen died, the nights seemed endless and the darkness was everywhere. But morning has come. There are shouts of joy in little things … in growing families … in being able to share my experiences … STOP

… with Karen and to honor her through the memories we’ve shared. We can wallow in the darkness … or we can shout with joy at the light!

Well, that’s what I came up with this week. But I was also reminded of a post I made back on Feb. 10, 2013 — Joy … Joy … Joy (https://wisdomfromafather.com/2013/02/10/joy-joy-joy/). That was actually a sermon I initially preached 15 years ago. Seems it may still be relevant to today’s prompt.

The pulpit story was built around Pollyanna of all things. Pollyanna looked for the bright clouds. As she told Rev. Ford in the movie, there are 800 happy texts in the Bible … texts of joy or gladness. “If God told us 800 times to be glad and rejoice,” she said, “He must have wanted us to do it.” Rev. Ford went to the pulpit the next day and corrected the young girl. There are 826 passages, he said, and he intending to dwell on one each week for the … well, it equates to the next 16 years or so.

THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: Live and let live is fine, but live and help live is better.