Joy....I’d always wanted God to hit me over the head with it like a happy baseball bat. I wanted a home run, right out of the park. Instead, I occasionally felt a wee thump, like a little joy walnut that would fall from the sky and I complained about the headache. I wanted Joy to come over me with a flood that fills me like a dry river bed. Instead, God allowed pain that brought me to my knees in the dust.

I wanted Him to give it to me like a diploma, a certificate of completion. All was said and done and now I would have it...JOY! Instead, I found out that I was enrolled in the school of misunderstanding and missed opportunity where I had to learn from my mistakes.

Joy...I wanted it to come to me like a wild stallion that would pause only long enough for me to jump on its back. Joy and I would ride the wild wind and be in united ecstasy. Instead, my mule sidled up and offered to carry my burdens and I wondered why it had to be such a lowly beast.

I wanted God to give me the Giant Sequoia of Joy whose roots dug deep and limbs spread high to Heaven. Majestic! Awe inspiring! Instead, He gave it to me like a creeping vine that covered my life with His Mercy. Sprouted from the smallest, dawdling seed, this vine slowly but surely covered the crags of my heart, filling in the rough spots along the way, one little leaf at a time - until one day there it was...JOY!

Tracy grew up in Hawaii but now resides in Tennessee with Richard, her husband of 32 years.  They have two daughters and six grandchildren.  Writing came after homeschooling her girls and a career in real estate management. She doesn't claim to have all the answers but she knows the One who does.