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“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” Denis Waitley

Some days I can’t shake thinking that happiness is a house with a pool, time off to travel across country in an RV, and enough money to never give spending a second thought. I hear others’ lists too – careers, cars, and current fashions. Tickets to big games. Golf tournaments. Overseas travel. 

I get righteous and preachy with myself (and in my head with others) when I recognize we’re setting something above God and believing it’ll fill empty spaces meant for Him. 

I get equally discouraged if I believe He only wants me holy, not happy. 

Writing this blog post brought to mind the house in my hometown I walked by and wanted for six years. A month or so before it went on the market, I quit a good paying job and started a small business. 

When I saw the “for sale” sign newly place in front of the house, I cried. If I had known there was any chance the owner would have sold, I would have stuck with my career even though I was unhappy. 

During a course of crazy events only God could orchestrate, we sold our house in two weeks, bought my dream home for exactly what we could afford, and, within two months and out of the blue, my husband and I were both offered jobs better than we could have imagined. 

Here’s what I learned about happiness from that house and those jobs, and what I keep learning … 

It’s okay to want things as long as I don’t worship them. God not only wants you and me to have what we want, He’ll make a way for it to happen. In fact, it’ll unfold in such an unbelievable way that we have to believe it was Him.

If we do happiness God’s way, we get what we need, a lot of what we want, and we’re actually happy about it because we’re living like He wants us to. We mess up our happiness and make it hard instead of living into the spiritual experience like the quote said. God wants our love, grace, and gratitude. 

And, finally, God wants you and me to be happy, and He knows the only way is to live for Him. 

In This Together, 
Kim

FYI: I’m blogging my book titled On The Other Side of Trying Hard: Healing, Happiness, and Holiness. Because the blog posts will eventually be an entire manuscript instead of stand-alone stories, some posts may leave you hanging. I hope you’ll hang in here with us anyway ‘cause a happy ending is coming. Each blog post title includes the chapter title first. The phrase in parentheses is one subheading within the chapter. I’d love to hear your reflections, questions, and suggestions. I’m over-the-top grateful you’re here. 

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