Oh JOY...

I am looking through my blog posts and laughing at myself.  It seems that at the end of each year, I take time to reflect on the past year, make plans to do better at blogging in the next year, and then make all of one or two posts throughout the year.  So here I am again, thinking that I need to be more proactive with my blog, and making plans for how I could be better at keeping up with it...blah blah blah.  This got me to thinking, "Why did I start this blog?  What purpose do I want it to serve?"  My blog has been named Susanna's Joy, from the get-go...and I'm thinking I want to get back to that.  I think that when I originally chose that name, I had no idea what a big deal JOY was in my life.  While it is my middle name, it also something that I have to fight for, protect, and sometimes even search for in my life.

If you were to ask people around me, they would more than likely tell you that I am a bubbly and joyful person--and for the most part, that is true.  If Satan wants to bring me down and discourage me, my joy is the first place he tries to attack.  He tries to rob me of my joy by having me compare myself to others, remind me of the desires of my heart that aren't yet fulfilled, and help me have a good 'ole fashion pity party.  I want to put a stop to this.  I want to stand up to the enemy and protect my joy-because my joy comes from the Lord, and He has been so good to me.

My little reminder--a bracelet I wear, especially to work, to remind me 

that joy has nothing to do with circumstances.

All that to say--I'm stripping this blog back to it's bare roots.  I declare this spot in the blogosphere as my place to proclaim my joy in the Lord--my space to stop and smell the roses, sit in awe and wonder, and to  breathe in His goodness.