Mile High JOY

Hello, Cadre. Let's get this party started. My name is Kathy Joy, and in the Cadresphere I am Speak Wonder. And I love popping in to see what the other Cadre contributors are doing and what our friends in the community are saying in the comments. So in the comments, if you could let me know where you are. The world. I usually come to you live at a different time from now. So this is an unusual time for me to join. On Thursday. I come to you from Lake Erie in Pennsylvania, northwest Pennsylvania.

And I see Catherine, I believe, has joined. I apologize. I've got the sun coming in the window above me, which is lovely and it's kind of making it a challenge to see my screen. Thank you for joining. Where are you watching from? I'm in Denver, Colorado. Specifically, I am in. Hey. Hi. Hey. Hey. I'm in Littleton, which was our home, my family's home for 22 years where I had a spot on a Christian radio station as a morning show host. And it was wonderful. It was amazing. And so being in the Cadre gives me a platform to be a radio girl again.

And I seriously just got off the airplane, so I don't know which way is up, I don't know what time it is. I think I'm thirsty and I might be hungry. Just simply got here to my destination, which is a friend's house. I'll be having friendsgiving around a lovely table next week and I decided I can still do Cadre. I can still do Caregiver day on Thursday. However, I was a bit and am a bit confused about what time it really is. So I'm in Mountain time as opposed to Eastern Standard time and many of you are listening in Central time.

So here we are. Thank you for coming in while I come in sideways at a different time. But I'm always here with you and for you on Caregiver day. And I'm happy to be here. And I'm so stinking happy to be in my beloved Rockies again. I do believe the heart can have many homes and one of mine is definitely the Denver Littleton area of the Mile High City. Welcome to my live stream today. Often I will talk to you about harbor pilots and harbors. Today I want to talk to you about Joy and allowing joy to come in.

I have a few things I'd like to read to you that I have gleaned or harvested from other poets, other writers, and something that I just wrote myself while on the airplane. I will tell you also while I'm searching for this one Here it is, this one contribution. I will let you know that last night I spent the night in Charlotte in a white rocking chair trying to snooze because my flight was delayed. I had a connecting flight from Erie to Charlotte to Denver. Well, in Erie yesterday, when I was about to board, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that the flight was grounded and would be delayed indefinitely because of high winds.

50 mile per hour winds were swooping in right about the time we were supposed to be getting on the craft. So the airplane, which was trying to land, had to be rerouted to Buffalo, New York to refuel. And they came back to get us a couple of hours later and brought us to Charlotte, where, of course, we missed our connecting flight to Denver. And so weary travelers were scattered about in the terminal catching little cat naps and trying to relax and trying to be vigilant about when the next flight would go out.

And it did, this morning. And here I am, Denver. I want to read to you this beautiful rendering of Words by Donna Ashworth. It's about Joy coming in to our day. And to preface this, I'd like to just remind us all and myself that Joy doesn't necessarily waltz in when the room is empty of life's mess, when the room is clear of life's burdens. Joy adheres to the shape of today, the shape of your soul, and it adheres to the things that you're carrying and the burdens you're shouldering as a caregiver.

And it still can dwell side by side with the mess. It surely can, because Joy is comfortable beside grief. Here is Donna Ashworth when you finally realize that Joy is less fireworks, more firefly, less orchestra, more bird song. She will come back much more often, for Joy will not fight with the fast pace of this life. She is not in the shiny or the new. She breathes in the basic, shimmers in the simple and dances in the daily to and fro. Joy has been beckoning you for many a year, my friend. You were just too busy doing, doing, doing to see the very next time Joy wraps her quiet warmth around you as the garden embraces your weary body in its wildness.

Tip her a nod. You cannot force her to stay. But if you are a gracious host, Joy comes back. The author is Donna Ashworth. On the airplane, I was hard pressed to get the airplane's Wi Fi and watch their movie. And I felt like that was a call to get my pen out and my journal and write. And so I wrote about Joy. This is my prosy poem for you today, Joy. Oh, where is it? Where did it start? Here it is. Joy is not elusive, exclusive or shy, not fleeting, but abiding, unafraid of grief, familiar with pain, shares a space with sorrow.

Joy kicks its shoes off and stirs the simmering soup, calls your name and ladles out helpings of inoculation against despair. Then Joy sets a table of respite for you. The phone rings, the creditors come to do lists hover and unsolved problems loom. But you are quietly, blessedly occupied, lingering over a bowl of fortifying, impossibly tasty soup. Don't you love soup? On an autumn day, Joy serves up fortifying inoculation against despair. Joy comes to sit with you in your sorrow. Here's another one.

This is, I believe, by my favorite author, Anonymous. I had this committed to memory once. It's just part of me. Sorrow with his pick minds the heart. But oh, he is a cunning workman. He hollows out chambers for Joy to abide in when he is gone. Let's invite Joy in to our burdens of being caregivers and really blessings and privileges. When you invite Joy in, you're beginning from a place of victory. So I end today with a haiku. Sip, sip, sip, sip, sip. A cup of jubilation for your weary soul. That is my reflection on Joy having just landed in a city I love, Littleton, Colorado, where I lived for many years, and consider my other home or my second home.

Thank you for adjusting to my schedule. I think I'm gonna go find a glass of water and settle in. Folks, you're the best. Thank you for being here. I see your comments. Risa says. Love that. Thanks for sharing your writing along with others. They really hit home. Thank you for that. Hi Jules. Good afternoon. So good to have you here and my heart is with yours. See you next time. Next week I'll still be in the Mile High City and we'll see what that day brings on. Caregiver day. Bye for now.