Joy & the Single Mom: By Jennifer MaggioChikamu

What does your fruit look like?

Would your kids say that you are happy? Would they say you are fun? When you spend time with them, are you fostering an environment where they can laugh, dance, sing, and be silly, enjoying life? What is the climate that you created in your home?

We know joy is a fruit of the spirit, but what are we doing to grow joy in our lives? How are we positioning ourselves to see the fruit of joy in our day-to-day lives? Fruit grows over time. If our immediate response to life’s challenges is to complain, we’ll fail to walk in joy, producing a harvest of complaints; but if we learn to respond in joy (even when we don’t feel joyful), it will become a habit. What fruit are you growing?

Step 2 to restoring your joy as a single mom: Grow your fruit!

Are you creating an environment of rich soil with plenty of water and sunshine? In other words, what are you doing emotionally, spiritually, and physically so the seed of joy will take root and grow in your life? If you create ground rich with complaining, bitterness, and anger, that is what will grow! Position joy, gratitude, and hope as the fruit that grows from your life. Position yourself for the right kind of growth. This devotional is a great start. Be intentional about reading God’s word daily and consume it like living water. Joy will sustain you when life gets hard, but it requires some intention. The joy of the Lord is our strength. I don’t know about you, but I need strength to get through the demands of my day-to-day duties. I need some joy in the middle of the daily grind. I want to learn to laugh without fear of my future. I want my children to think I’m fun and not always an angry, militant, nagging mom.

What is joy in the Lord? It’s eternal hope that what we walk through today is temporary. It teaches us that we always have something to look forward to. The joy of the Lord knows the temporary pain will end. There have been many seasons of my life where the challenges were unspeakable. I thought they would take me out. The tears were many. The nights were long, but those situations one day ended, and in each of those temporary pains, God restored beauty where ashes once were. Our God is a restorer, healer, redeemer, and miracle-maker. There is confident joy in knowing that.

Points to Ponder:

• What can you do this week to create some fun in your home?
• Tonight, take some time to reflect on every time you complained today. Were there times when you could have responded differently, choosing to operate in joy instead?