And the Award goes to .....

Last night was the Academy Awards. A night to celebrate the best in film. A night to hopefully win a golden statue in front of your peers. A night that's a big deal in Hollywood.

There were several performances/speeches that caught my attention and got me thinking today.

The first one was Pharrell Williams singing his best song nominated song, "Happy." I'll admit, it's a fun song. It makes me smile. It makes me want to dance. On Metrolyrics.com it states that "'Happy' was written for the 'Despicable Me 2' soundtrack by Pharrell Williams. Pharrell came up with the idea for the lyrics by asking himself what being in a good mood truly feels like." But I'll ask a deeper question. Is your happiness based on your mood??? If I feel good and/or look good, I'm happy???

The next was an acceptance speech by Darlene Love after receiving the Academy Award for Best Documentary. The film was called "20 Feet from Stardom" and based on Love's life as a rising entertainer in the Stevie Wonder era. She began her speech by praising the Lord, then breaking into a few lines from "His Eye is on the Sparrow" which states, "I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free, For His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me." That kind of happiness is only found in Christ.

Then there was Matthew McConaughey's acceptance speech for Best Actor in Dallas Buyer's Club. He was one of the few actors to acknowledge God's role in his life. He talked on 3 points. The first was he needed someone to look up to. He basically said that he wanted to thank God and he looked up to him and said God was all about gratitude. His second point was he needed something to look forward to. Here he talked about his family and how his mother taught him about respect. Thirdly, he talked about someone to chase. This, to me, was a little bizarre, but he talked about chasing his "hero" which was himself 10 years in the future and then when he got to that milestone, he would again "chase" himself for another 10 years. He realizes that he will never catch up, but he wants to find out how that guy turns out.

All those actors/actresses that attended whether they were nominated, just attenders, or they won the award seemed genuinely happy. I would be happy, too, if I wore a designer gown, had beautiful jewels adorning my ears, neck, and wrist, and was on the arm of a gorgeous man.

But in my book, happiness is based on solely on circumstances or mood. What I want to have all the time is joy. Joy is defined as an emotion of great delight caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying. I believe that the exceptionally good & satisfying thing is a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Bible is full of verses that talk about joy. Just read Philippians 4. It talks about joy & being content in all circumstances.

When I accepted Christ into my heart and life at age 9, God didn't promise me I would never have any problems. He did promise me that He would never leave me alone to deal with my problems. And that's why if you see me, I'm truly doing great, even when that leg pain is unbearable, because He is with me and he is the true joy-giver!!!! And to me, that a big deal!!! 

Thank you to my prayer warriors for praying the snow away!!! We only got 2-3 inches at my house!!!

Please pray for safety on the roads as we journey to MD Anderson @ Cooper for my doctor's appointment at 8 am tomorrow morning. And please pray for a good report and an easy day with Mr. Chemo!!!

Love & hugs to all!!!

Only by His Strength,
Sandy