One of the greatest things that God ever gave us (other than His Son) was our free will.  He created us and could have made us all 100% loyal and devoted to Him.  But He wanted us to CHOOSE Him.  He wanted us to CHOOSE life over death, eternity with Him instead of eternity without Him.

There have been plenty of times in my life that I have willingly chosen the wrong things, the wrong path, the way apart from Him instead of with Him.  But I hope that I never make those choices again.  Because choosing joy over wallowing in my sorrow, choosing joy over self-pity, choosing joy over anything else is worth it.

So today, I hope you choose joy.  And if you don’t know how to do that, I would LOVE to help you figure that out.  Because it may not always be easy, but it’s always worth it. (Quick side note… joy is not happiness.  They are two different things.  You can still choose to be joyful in moments when you aren’t happy.)

Thank you SO MUCH to Desirea Still for capturing this photo below.  As I was scrolling through all of the amazing images she took at the Pursuit 31 Conference this year, I was looking at several of these (of the JOY sign) to use for this post and then I saw one with me in it… with Catherine poking out a little and my florescent orange TOMS!  To see more of her amazing photos, visit the PASS gallery here: http://desireastill.pass.us/pursuit-conference-2014/

And congrats to this week’s Birthday Month Giveaway winner…. Ashley Newton (who entered via Instagram) the sweatshirt is yours!  I’ll be in touch soon!