Choose Joy: Thank you Mary!



This past Friday, our homeschool group sponsored a Breast Cancer Walk to raise money for a woman in our local community.

Mrs. Mary Devillier

She was diagnosed one year ago, with an aggressive form of breast cancer, has underwent countless rounds of radiation,  and is currently in stage 4 of the disease at the moment.

Surprisingly,

you wouldn't guess it by talking to Mrs. Mary.

She is the beautiful smiling woman in the middle of the picture below.

I had the opportunity to walk next to Mrs. Mary for a little while, as we walked 2.5 miles around the park.

That's right...SHE walked 2.5 miles!

She never complained once.

She only spoke of how blessed she was.

She spoke of how much living that she wanted to do.


She said over and over how beautiful the day was.


She said "thank you" to our homeschool group about a dozen times or more.

She spoke of how much she loved to cook and eat.

She spoke of her family and how much they meant to her.

She spoke of the presence of God in her life.

She spoke LIFE into her own life!

She chose to see the joy all around her, and within her situation.

We had planned to put on this walk and be a blessing to her, but on the contrary...

SHE BLESSED US!

When she found out that we wanted to do the walk for her, she never doubted that she would walk with us.

She said that she was going to be there for the kids.

To show them support as they walked for her.

It was important for her to show them strength in adversity.
She wanted them to see her face smiling as they walked.

To show them Joy!

I had to turn away from her at one point, because her uplifting attitude and  her encouraging heart brought me to tears when she said,

" God has a plan for me. He's not finished with me yet!"

She not only believes that she is going through this for a reason, and not only believes that God's hand has never left her...SHE KNOWS IT!

She chooses to see the Joy!

Her Joy was a witness to me on such a personal level.

It reminded me of how so many times, I have chosen not to see the joy.

Sure...I praise Him in the sanctuary.

I praise Him when the bills are paid.

I praise Him when my family and I are healthy.

I praise Him when there is a sale at the grocery store.

I even praise when all the laundry is caught up.

I praise Him when everything is just peachy...

but,

 Mary knows it a little better than I.

We must praise Him out of the sanctuary!

Praise Him when the bills are late, the fridge is bare, the laundry piles up and the car is spitting dust from the gas tank!

Praise Him when our lives are dry, not just when the rain pours in!

Praise Him through the sickness...and be expectant for the healing!

Praise Him...when we know nothing else to do,
  simply Praise Him!!

Choose to see the Joy in even having the freedom to Praise Him!!

I sat in my rocker recliner last night after everyone had gone to bed.
The house was completely still.

I began listening to the sound of my own breathing,

feeling the beat of my own heart,

and I thought of how two years ago, for 8 minutes, I had neither.

Neither.

I thought of how I had spent most of the day complaining about my allergies acting up.

My allergies.

My eyes filled with tears as I simply said,

"Thank you God. Forgive me."

I don't want my life to be a message of complaint.

I want it to be a message of Joy!

If anything, anything at all...

Praise Him for the breath you breathe.

Praise Him for the beat of your heart.

Praise Him because you live.

Praise Him because you are His.

Praise Him,

 because as long as you are alive, He has a plan for you and He's

 not finished with you yet!

Thank you Mrs. Mary Devillier for allowing your life to be a message of Joy!
Thank you for reminding me to Choose to See The Joy in simply living!

Psalm 150:6

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 34:1

I will praise the Lord at all times.  I will constantly speak His praises.

Psalm 100:1-3

 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
  Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the LORD is God.
  It is he who made us, and we are his^,
   we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.


Thanks for stopping by!

Choose Joy!
Tammy