Spreading the Joy!

I spent the latter part of last week and most of this week so far, preparing for my upcoming move in a couple of days.  Fortunately, I do not have a lot to pack since I’ve been kind of living in a minimal mode since I moved from North Carolina almost six months ago.  As it turns out, I needed pretty much that whole six months to make this week’s move.  The house and the previous owner’s Reverse Mortgage situation sure threw a wrench into my plans to slowly prepare the new house for my eventual occupancy.  Now the plan is to only move the things in my apartment and then paint and get the new carpets before unloading the storage bin where most of my stuff resides!  But that’s okay, as it will give me the time to create the look I desire while actually living in my new home.

But that doesn’t mean that repacking the relatively few things in my apartment didn’t bring to light more than just a few poignant and sometimes painful memories of Piper’s and my past.  Late yesterday afternoon I sat on the floor in front of our entertainment cabinet, opened the bottom doors and sighed as I looked over our collection of mostly Christian record albums that we amassed during our dating and early marriage days… before eight tracks, cassettes and CD’s came into existence! 

As I began to thumb through the large collection, my heart began to ache as I pulled out a couple of albums that had “Piper Canevari” written on the top right corner.  They were from her personal stash that she had begun to collect when we delved into the burgeoning contemporary Christian Rock scene during our college years.  Just looking at the covers of those albums and the many others that we had purchased and almost wore out during the early to mid-seventies, brought back a flood of happy times listening to music at each of our homes, going to concerts around town and attending some of the regular concerts of new and upcoming Christian bands at a ministry in the Sacramento, California area called “Warehouse Ministries.”  Ah… those were some especially good times!

Piper always had such a strong spirit of life about her that seemed to infect everything and everyone around her.  While sitting on the floor packing the albums, I couldn’t help to think of the first dance we attended during the first week or two of our Senior year in high school.  I guess you could say that this was our first official date!  We planned on meeting at the activity in the school cafeteria and then spending the rest night at the dance together.  I got to the dance before Piper and danced one number with a mutual friend of ours before Piper arrived.  My dance partner and I stood on the side of the dance floor when the song ended and were talking about something when she looked out into the crowd and said that she’d better go now because Piper was here.

It was then and there that I fell hopelessly in love with my future bride and lifelong companion.  As Piper walked across the dance floor, I couldn’t help but notice how radiant she looked and something just clicked inside of me… and I knew, as a young seventeen-year-old teenager, that I would never have eyes for another women again! 

The joy and the life that shined about her was unmistakable… and it never left.  Even when her lovely exterior features became contorted with the growing onslaught of the Alzheimer’s, if you looked closely… you could still see the brightness of that joy, inner peace and life in her eyes.

Those memories and many more coursed through me yesterday with almost every box, picture or record album that I packed.  And they got me to thinking about how important it is, to always look for the positive, the joy and the life in everyone we interact with throughout each and every day.  It caused me to recall all the wonderful people that came into our lives to support us through the last eight years of Piper’s life and it made me cry over the few who seemed to fall into a trap of deception when it came to the lifestyle of faith and joy that Piper and I always strived to live.  It deeply affected me to see the absence of hope, faith and joy in their lives when it came to Piper’s situation.

Revelation 12:9 calls the enemy of our souls, the devil, “the deceiver of the whole world…” (KJV)  Every time I turn on the news, I see the deception of the enemy running rampant in the world.  I see very intelligent and most likely good people falling for his tricks and believing his lies and therefore missing out on the hope and joy that Jesus gives to us… especially during this special Holiday Season. 

I would encourage each of you this season, to stay alert to the deceptions that the enemy puts out.  To go the extra mile to love those among your family and friends.  To look past what your physical senses are telling you, and to look deep into the eyes of those you interact with on a daily basis.  Look for the good, spread the Good News and rejoice in the truth of God and His Word.

Have a blessed week, and as you do, say with me… “I am expecting to look for and spread the joy and life of the Good News today!”