Searching for joy

"Remember to serve (J)esus first, (O)thers second, and (Y)ourself last", these were the instructions given to us by the volunteer coordinator at a back-to-school rally for Central Detroit Christian www.centraldetroitchristian.org this past weekend.  That catchy acronym was provided even after Pastor Harvey Carey from Citadel of Faith gave his own volunteer pep talk, saying that when we serve others we should turn our thinking from serving others in the name of Jesus to serving others as if we were serving Jesus himself.  Wow, doesn't that change the perspective entirely?? 
 
As part of our pre-marriage counseling we were asked to come up with some ways we hoped we could define ourselves as a couple in 5 years, and one of the things we chose was that we would have "servant hearts".  This could include serving God, our family & friends, our community, our marriage.  So nearly one year later as we prepare for a trip as an early celebration of our 1-year wedding anniversary that we've been looking forward to, it occurred to me that we should check back on each of these things and see how we're doing.  We'll make this one of our vacation discussions, but as with any personal goals, we could use a little prayer to help us focus on this, and the persistence to pick up and try, try again when we fall short. 

A member of our church passed away this week, and some video clips and his family blogposts have been going around, and as I was reading through some of his thoughts from some months ago, one of his lines struck me: "God is our anchor and we fully accept His plan for us."  This from a man who has now moved on from his short earthly life and leaves behind a wife and young children who are no doubt still reeling from their loss.  May his prayer also be mine and yours today...