Because You Deserve to Be Happy

That was the “subject” on my email from Ulta yesterday morning. It jumped out at me. That word, “deserve”, says it all. We live in a self-gratification, self-centered, self-entitlement, and selfie world. I get it! We all want to be happy. Isn’t that the greatest goal in life? I loved Bobby Ferrin’s upbeat, reggae song, “Don’t Worry. Be Happy”. It motivated us to "Be Happy!"

We are hardwired to pursue happiness, so we pursue it, after all, as Ulta’s advertising campaign says: We deserve it!” We don’t have to look far to hear prominent cultural voices, sing and speak about how much they "deserve" their rights, their happiness, and their pleasure. "We’re all about feeling good; We’re all going to die so let’s live it up without regard to morality, being respectful of others or what the consequences of our actions might be. As long as we’re happy – that’s all that matters."

Yesterday morning, my daughter and I were having one of our phone pep talks. We need to record some of those talks because I think we could solve many of the world’s problems if the world would listen to us. We discussed the lack of morality in our world because the world thinks “I deserve happiness, at all costs!” We also talked about how well we sleep at night because of a clear conscience and how happy we are to wake up to freedom from regret of what we did yesterday.

The simple truth is: God REALLY does want His kids to be happy, just like you and I want our children to be happy. God made pleasure because He wants us to be happy. He doesn’t want us shivering in a dark corner, frightened, sad and miserable. He sincerely wants happiness in our lives and He wants to flood our days with a joy that the world can’t even begin to know or take away. This is the God of the Bible. And, no matter what you’ve heard, He’s a joyful and happy God Himself, and He loves nothing more than to make those of us who are chasing happiness to be happy.

This may sound ultra-spiritual but at the heart of Christianity, is the key to happiness. It is happiness through holiness. I can hear some saying now, “There goes Donna giving us the “Jesus Talk” again’. But, I promise you, the way to be happy is found in simple obedience to God and faith in His Son. King David said to God with evident delight AND happiness: "You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is the fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

It may appear that being a devoted follower of Christ means we’re floating two inches off the ground if we’re living obediently to His words. But God is infinitely happy Himself and we were made in His image, so “happy” should be our way of life; not because we “deserved it”, but because we are God’s kids so it is a part of our DNA. We can’t help ourselves. It’s because of Whose we are. Obedience to our Father is what makes us happy. Pursuing Him is what brings us freedom and joy.

This way of life allows us to enjoy the world as it is. The gift of physical enjoyment and pleasure comes from Him, not an inebriated version of ourselves or an X-rated movie or one-night-stand. The ability to realize that it’s not that we DESERVE happiness, it’s that our loving and holy Father God created happiness for us. Our hunger for happiness and pleasure are God-given instincts and when placed in the right order, as the children of our King, we never need to worry because we are on the receiving end of an abundance of His unmerited favor.

One Gal's Junk.....Another Gal's Treasure

My sis-in-law and I share a sweet memory of the estate sale company that we owned and operated. We witnessed the “junk” of many become the “treasures” for others. Perspective. A useless Tupperware lid for one, but for another it was just what they needed. Old worthless baby stroller for one, to another it was a great tool for hauling things in. An old, beat up window -- junk...but another would turn it into a piece of art. It’s a matter of how we look at life……and stuff.

What a ride we had in that business. After years in the business, our season changed and we decided to "close-up-shop" on that business, but kept all our supplies and inventory in a storage unit. With my upcoming move to Texas, we decided to go ahead and sell all those supplies. Of all the inquiries from our advertising, only one couple was really interested -- it was the couple that we purchased our supplies from years ago -- wanting to get back into the business again!!! God's timing was perfect....for both of us. Thanks be to God!

So yesterday, Karen and I had a garage sale of "stuff" that she and I had accumulated that needed to go. We were able to borrow the tables and shelves from the couple that purchased back their supplies from us. Perfect timing....again. Getting the sale ready and then the sale, our hearts were stirred once again by those that stopped by to shop. We had always made everyone that visited our sales feel like they were family. Yesterday was no exception. Our sweet Mom loved it because we used her home, where we had many garage sales over the years. I might add the BEST location ever for garage sales. Every age and ethnicity stopped by and we gave away as much as we sold. Oh what a feeling!

Karen, George & I were at Mom's houe to set everything out yesterday morning at 6 am. Mom was still sleeping. Soon, she came out and was singing "I woke up this morning feeling fine. I woke up with heaven on my mind. I woke up with joy in my soul....now Lord, make everything in this sale GO GO GO!" LOL! She has also loved our sales because as outgoing as she is, she acquires lots of new friends -- like in this photo with a sweet little girl who has spina bifida, but other than the shoes and walker she uses, all you could see was a little shop-till-you-drop queen. Her "normal" rose to the occasion and her little bag of treasures "made her day". Mom and her became best buds. And then there's Carl, a close friend of Mom, Karen & George, who has become like a son to Mom. The two of them had plenty to talk about as they watched the garage sale activity -- especially the beaming faces of those who found a "treasure" amidst our junk!

Finding the treasures AND pleasures of life in some of the sweetest ways -- that's what doing our estate sales and garage sales over the years meant to us. We helped others pay forward all their items that were once treasures to them, to become treasures to others.

What about you? What treasures could be found in your junk and funk? This little girl had physical junk and funk....but she was relentless. She WAS a treasure! No stopping her. Just wonder if there's a treasure amidst the junk you have encountered in your life. In spite of how we feel about ourselves, perhaps unusable, unlikeable, broken or unwanted. God, the Master Artist and Lover of our souls, will clean up our messes, forgive us for ignoring His voice, and turn us into a beautiful, handcrafted works of art and treasures that He can touch and use as precious vessels of encouragement, peace and joy to bless others.

You'll never know what you'll find in people, places and situations -- just maybe today -- amidst the junk.....you just might find the treasure you've been looking for!