Joy does not simply happen to us.
We have to choose joy
and keep choosing it every day.
~Henri J.M. Nouwen

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light. It was what
I was born for –

to look, to listen,
to lose myself
inside this soft world –
to instruct myself

over and over
in joy,
and acclamation.
~Excerpt from the poem, Mindful,
by Mary Oliver

…for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness. ~Psalm 26:3  ✝

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