Bring Back the Joy - Hardcover

Walsh, Sheila

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0310220238 ISBN 13: 9780310220237

Publisher: Zondervan, 1998

Synopsis

Simple exercises and personal insights offer practical steps for restoring joy to one's spirituality

About this title

About the Author

Sheila Walsh is a well-known author whose books include Honestly and Bring Back the Joy. She lives in Nashville, TN.

From the Back Cover

We talk about joy. We memorize Scripture verses about joy. But few of us, if we're honest, experience real joy. Why? Where did it go? How can we recapture or experience for the first time the joy that is promised to those who love God? In Bring Back the Joy, Sheila Walsh points to the way to experiencing joy in the midst of life, in the presence of all that's true about who we are. Sharing from her own life and the lives of her friends, Sheila illustrates the things that steal our joy and gives practical steps to restoring joy at a depth we've never experienced before--through resting in the one who is Joy. Bring Back the Joy expands on the 1998 theme of the popular Women of Faith conferences. Sheila Walsh is one of the conference speakers. One of the distinctives of the Christian faith is joy an abiding, overflowing gladness of heart that wells up from within. Joy that exists independent of circumstances, rejoicing in the best of times and triumphing in the worst. We all know this. We ve memorized the Scripture verse that says the joy of the Lord is our strength. But, if we re honest, many of us will admit that our own experience of joy is a far cry from what the Bible seems to promise. Have we missed something? Where did the joy go and more important, how can we get it back? Sheila Walsh knows the importance of joy. Her own difficulties ultimately became a journey to the kind of joy that can t be withered by life s dry seasons or overturned by circumstances because it s rooted in Christ himself. In Bring Back the Joy, Sheila calls us to a deeper joy. With wisdom, she exposes the negative forces designed to steal our joy sin, law, fear, anger, unforgiveness, hopelessness, loss of vision, and shame. And she shows how to sow life-changing seeds of joy through obedience, transparency, friendship, grace, simplicity, risk, surrender, and learning to simply lighten up! Capturing the theme of the 1998 Women of Faith conferences, Bring Back the Joy is a warm, encouraging, and richly personal invitation to experience the joy that comes from loving and being loved by the Most Important Person in the Universe.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1 Indescribable Delight Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy. 1 Peter 1:8 When I met Christ, I felt that I had swallowed sunshine. E. Stanley Jones Chapter l I wonder what pictures come to your mind when you think of joy? I think of moments from my childhood. I think of picnics in Belisle Country park in my hometown of Ayr, Scotland, with my mom and Frances and Stephen. We would play in the sun for hours and then gather on a plaid blanket to feast on tomato sandwiches my favorite. I remember an old tree in the park that looked like a horse, and we rode for miles on that trusty steed. I think of long walks on Sunday afternoons. I loved to walk by the river Ayr up to the stepping stones. We would stand in the middle of the river and skip pebbles across the surface of the water. As I look back on my childhood now, I know that we didn t have much money. My mother has never owned her own house or driven a car, but we were rich in moments of simple joy. We loved each other. We talked to each other and we listened. We rode bikes together and played board games and listened to music. We read books and we sang around our old piano. Simple life. Simple joy. I wonder what memories come to you? Perhaps we share similar precious moments. But maybe you are reluctant to turn your mind to days that were filled with pain, and you feel cheated of what should have been days of innocence. Bring Back the Joy I remember the day when Andy Hendron, the boy who lived across the street, told me that there was no Santa Claus. I was devastated. I ran into the house, past my mother, up the stairs to my room where I threw myself on my bed and sobbed. I heard a gentle knock on the door. It was my mom. Is it true? I asked her through my tears. My mom explained to me that Santa Claus was a fun game we had played, but that the real meaning of Christmas the real gift of the Christ child was true. But now I won t get any gifts! I cried. Of course you will, my mother assured me. And all was well. But we grow up and myths are dispelled, hearts are broken, promises not kept. We move into the real world and leave joy behind on the nursery floor like an old discarded toy or a childhood Sunday school chorus: I ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Perhaps that s why we love to have children around at Christmas. For a few moments we can forget the worries of unpaid bills, the illnesses of loved ones, or a troubled marriage, and we can recapture a little of the uncluttered wonder of life reflected in big blue eyes. But then it s over for another year, and, for some, Christmas is the most painful time of all. So can joy be found again? Can joy be discovered if we ve hardly tasted it at all? Yes. And that s my story. In 1997 I was invited to be part of a team of six Women of Faith speakers who traveled under the name The Joyful Journey. I knew Barbara Johnson, having interviewed her when I was cohost of The 700 Club on the Christian Broadcasting Network. I knew of Luci Swindoll and Patsy Clairmont, although we d never met. Marilyn Meberg and Thelma Wells were new faces and names. When Barry, my husband, Christian, our son, and I flew to Hawaii for the first conference, I had no idea that the chance to work with these women and be with them would be the best Christmas gift ever. I grew up in a small town on the west coast of Scotland. When I was four my father died of complications from a brain hemorrhage. Before he died his personality changed drastically. I didn t understand why. Had I done something wrong? Did he see something in me that made him change how he felt about his beloved tomboy daughter? I made a silent commitment never to let anyone down again. I would be the perfect good-girl. When I was eleven I went with family and friends to hear the Heralds, a Scottish gospel group. I listened on the edge of my seat as Ian Leitch, the evangelist, spoke. God has no grandchildren, only sons and daughters, he said. That evening I got down on my knees with my mom beside my bed and asked Jesus to take control of my life. In my head I knew it was a gift to be loved by God, but in my soul I determined to work to be worthy of the gift so that it would never be taken away. If a daddy can stop loving, I reasoned, I guess God can too. At nineteen I went to Bible College in London. When I graduated I joined Youth For Christ on a missions team to Europe. Then I came to America and made it my home. I traveled all over the country as a singer and speaker and was spotted during an interview on television by Jackie Mitchum, the guest coordinator for The 700 Club. Pat Robertson had recently returned to the show from his run for president and was looking for a new cohost. I was invited to fly in and interview and was given the job that first day. For almost five years I interviewed everyone from Billy Graham to Smokey Robinson, from Hulda Buntain (a gentle missionary to India) to Charlie Daniels

Edition details

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0310220238
• ISBN 13: 9780310220237
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208