Sweetness and Joy come from the Lord.

Something to strive for, as a wife and soon to be mother.

To be sweet, kind, and gentle, to be as the bible says in James 1:19

"Know this my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to LISTEN,

slow to SPEAK, and slow to ANGER." But human nature makes that

very, very hard doesn't it? Selfishness and pride tell us to get angry first,

be overrun by emotions, yell and make sure everyone in a 10 foot span

knows how we feel, then and only then after you blow off all our frustration

do we calm down and listen to the ones we love the most. Our nature is

wicked in itself and unfortunately we end up hurting the ones closest to us

by allowing our emotions to control us.

So, there is our problem, but whats the solution? What can turn a selfish

heart into a heart that is full of joy and love for others? The only thing, the only

person able and willing to do such a miraculous thing is God himself. Through the

power of his spirit in our hearts changing us from selfish and bitter to selfless and

sweet. We must allow him to do so in order to love the ones around us, even the

unlovely people in our lives, remember sometimes we can be unlovely too. To be

more we must become less. Confused? Don't be, God has made it so simple, although

challenging because change is never easy, especially when our entire normality is at

hand. Luke 10:27 says, "And he answered, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your hear and with all your soul and with

all your strength and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself." Quite a challenge, we must love God and seek him

more than anything else, allowing him to fill us more and more with his word and his love for us, so that we can love him back and

love others with that very love that he first pours into our hearts. By us continually being in his presence we can grow to be more

like him. A mirror image of God, the one who is himself LOVE. 1 John 4:8 says, "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because

God is love." Without God we can not even KNOW what love is let alone share love with others. To be sweet, kind, and loving takes

knowing God and knowing Love. 1 John 4:19 says, "We love because he first loved us."

I want to know God more, know love more so my family and all those around me can experience his love too.

Sweetness and Joy truly do come from the Lord.