Just a few words of Joy

On my birthday, we played a question and answer game.

The guests picked from multiple answers. Which musical group is her favorite? Which magazine? Which dessert would she choose?

Then we got to this question:
Outside of her family, who does the birthday girl admire most?
A. Gloria Steinem
B. Beth Moore
C. Joy Roberts

Everybody knew the answer was C.

Joy is the embodiment of Proverbs 31. And she would hate to hear me say it. She would even laugh and say she never "made linen cloths" for her family like that woman in Proverbs 31. But these few verses from that chapter truly describe her.

"She welcomes the poor and helps the needy ... She is strong and respected by the people. She looks forward to the future with joy. She speaks wise words and teaches others to be kind."

Yep. All that and more.

So, on HER birthday, I'm sharing just a little of the wisdom she has spread around over the years.

A few gems:

* Don't make your children the focus of your life. If you do, they'll get used to being the center of attention. No spouse can live up to that and your children will grow up to be miserable.

* God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and self control.

* When you don't know what to do, just take the next step.

* Our new nature must be fed daily so we can be strong enough to fight the battles.

* Pride and self pre-occupation are at the bottom of all of our negative emotions.

* One of the barriers to temptation is constant belief in the goodness of God.

I especially love Joy's cure for "Me-itis." It's not original, and she wouldn't want to take credit for it. But she passed it along and it stuck with me.

In order to get rid of "me-itis," you should daily take this medicine:
1. Do something for someone else
2. Do something for yourself.
3. Do something you don't want to do.
4. Exercise your body
5. Exercise your mind.
6. Pray an original prayer to God, beginning with thanking him for your blessings.

Joy is a lady who is rarely casual -- in her dress, in her relationships or in her faith. Good thing, since Billy Graham says: "The casual Christian has little or no influence."

Thank you sweet Joy, for being a blessing, a model and oh, such a huge and profound influence.