In These Challenging Times

Hello faithful family, friends, and followers and thank you for sharing in our story. It seems like an understatement to call these “challenging times,” because they are so much more than that, and while there is nothing new about human conflict, the proximity and intensity from previously unexpected sources certainly puts things in a whole new light and category.

Our new home is in a bright new shiny building, surrounded by other bright shiny buildings, an area with sweeping views of the Minnesota River Valley and manicured trees and walkways that feel safe to walk through most any time day or night. Still, we are only 6 miles from where Renée Nicole Good was brutally shot and killed, just 3 miles from the Whipple Federal Building (ICE’s base of operations in Mpls), and only 2 miles from “our” Target, where two employees, both US citizens, were recently injured as they were being manhandled and detained by ICE. I guess what I’m trying to say is that this feels close and personal, and in that it is personal, I could go in a lot of different directions about my own thoughts, feelings, and beliefs with where things currently stand and where I would like to see them go.

But our blog, “The Life With Joy,” was launched with the purpose of searching for, locating, exploring, and holding “joy” in good times and in bad. We have attempted to chronicle our grasping for and holding joy in the aftermath of our accident, Joy’s near fatal injuries, and the long-fought road to recovery, at least the best level of recovery that she/we can attain.

So what does a search for joy look like in these times of aggression and divisiveness? As Joy and I have explored our thoughts, feelings, hopes, and prayers, we keep coming back to the fact that we are only able to hold joy, in good times and bad, when we keep ourselves grounded in the fundamentals of our faith and in God’s Word. For both Joy and I, in our previous professions and in our current retirement efforts, joy comes as a part of caring for others, which has been a personal priority, a part of our nature, something we feel is a fundamental expression of our faith, and because we believe it is a direct command from God. Care that is rooted in active service, self-sacrifice, and unconditional love.

That being said, I found myself writing and re-writing where I intended to go next with this post - seeking to find just the right words for such a critical time - words to challenge, words to confront, to encourage, comfort, heal, motivate, inspire, and more. But the more I try, the more I keep feeling like I am just getting in the way. So stripping my words away from the verses I had gathered to, “make my case,” left Joy and I with a list that we see as our own personal challenge which we seek to uphold and follow now and in the future. You have probably read these verses many times, just as have we, but at least for us, to review them now, regularly, helps center and ground us, “for such a time as this…”

But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44-45

Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:12

You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments. Matthew 22:37-40

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me… I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ Matthew 25:34-36, 40

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. John 13:34-35

Do not take advantage of foreigners who live among you in your land. Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:33-34

Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah 1:17

This is what the LORD says: Be fair-minded and just. Do what is right! Help those who have been robbed; rescue them from their oppressors. Quit your evil deeds! Do not mistreat foreigners, orphans, and widows. Stop murdering the innocent! Jeremiah 22:3

This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies says: Judge fairly, and show mercy and kindness to one another. Do not oppress widows, orphans, foreigners, and the poor. And do not scheme against each other. Zechariah 7:9-10

For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another. Galatians 5:14-15

Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Galatians 6:2-3

Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. Hebrews 13:2-3

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27

And so, in those immortal words of Forest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”🙏🏻