Enduring the Thorns

On this past Sunday at church, I was enlightened by our guest speaker for our Missionaries’ Annual Day. Glennschella Taylor serves as a foreign missionary with her husband in Africa, and spoke of her experiences there and abroad. She said something powerful that stuck with me. She said “a ministry without thorns will bear no roses.” Think about it.

Thorns on a rose bush are needed to help protect the rose from plant eating animals that may destroy it. As a rose bush need thorns to help the roses grow, so do we need thorns in our life to help develop us. The thorns we face in life come in many forms, some very painful and sometimes may seem unbearable, but they are all beneficial to help us grow and blossom into what God intended. Isaac Hayes once said that “if you enjoy the fragrance of a rose, you must accept the thorns which it bears.”

Lord give me strength to endure my life’s thorns, no matter how they prick me, so that I may mature into the beautiful rose God meant for me to be.

May your joy abound.

The Joy in Simple Things

I'm so excited to finally start this blog. I've been wanting to do this for a while now. My goal in writing this blog is to express my inspired thoughts in a creative and meaningful way. I named this blog "Oh My Joy!" because I want to remember the joy I have, no matter what situation or circumstance happens in my life. "Restore unto me the joy of my salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit" (Psalm 51:12) is one of my favorite scriptures. There are so many ways that God shows us His grace and mercy. I find joy in the simple things and I want to share these inspirations, in hope that they may inspire others.

Just the other day, my husband and I were looking outside the window as a cardinal landed on a crabapple tree in our yard. Watching this beautiful bird eat from this tree was a joy to behold. I started thinking of when Jesus said "Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?" (Luke 12:24) Here is a picture that I captured of the cardinal.

May your joy abound!