Hannah Maria Joy

Pain. Hurt. Sorrow. Uncertainty. Darkness. Despair. Faith. Hope. Healing. Love. Comfort. Support.   Joy. Light. When someone you know and love is hurting so bad it’s hard to understand why? WHY do people go missing? WHY can’t we understand? WHY doesn’t God bring them home right away? WHY can’t I do more to help? WHY? WHY? WHY? When thousands of people gather and share in prayer for someone you know and love you have to wonder why? WHY are we so united through this? WHY don’t we support each other like this all the time? But then you have to think; Do you have resurrection hope? Do you believe in cruciform power? Do you believe that God works even when we cannot see? Do you believe that good triumphs over evil? Do you believe that God is God and we are not? Do you believe that God’s love is beyond understanding? Do you believe in the God of peace? Do you believe in the God of comfort? Do you believe in the God of love? When I do...

Today is Thanksgiving and so many of us name a list of things we are thankful for similar to this one: Warm house Family Friends Morning coffee Food  Church Job  Car And on and on But what about all the people in the world that don't have all of those things? What if we don't have all those things? What then do we have to be thankful for?  People who have everything, people who have nothing, who suffer, who have only one or not even one of the things from the list above, all have SO much to be thankful for!  We ALL have a God whom created and continually chooses and loves us!  A God who suffers a long with us. A God who sent His one and only son to show us how to live, love, serve, and commune. A God who sent His only son to suffer and die for the sake of OUR redemption and the redemption of the world.  "for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to ...

    It has been too long since my last post and frankly I'm not really sure where to start or what to even write about. So bare with me as I unpack the last couple of months and some ideas/themes that have been running through my head.  In February, I lead the Valley youth group to Winterfest in Gatlinburg TN. This was the first big event I have organized and it was certainly an adventure, but it was a lot of fun. The theme this year was WATCH and all of the speakers did a fantastic job but there was one specific lesson that really stood out to me. They were talking about how much we as believers need the church. We are not meant to walk this journey alone, we are meant to do it supported and surrounded by community. We are meant to learn from those who are older than us and you know what? We may(and probably will) learn from those who are younger than us as well. we are to mentor those who are younger than us, and we are to be their for one another when we slip or fa...

I've bween reading The Insanity of God  by Nik Ripken (if you haven't read it you NEED to!). The book is about Nik's journey of ministry throughout the world; while he is in China interviewing believers there he hears a message from God saying this: "If ten million believers in your movement cannot take care of four hundrd families, do you have the right to call yourselves the Body of Christ, the Church, or even followers of Jesus?" It really struck me. It does not just apply to the Chinese believers, but it applies here, in the United states or wherever you may be, as well. I have always thought that the Church should play a big role in taking care of families, specifically women and children. James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." However, it never hit me that by not taking care of the widows and orphans that we are not truly being God's church until...

With Thanksgiving just having passed, I have been thinking about and have been very aware of the many blessings God has given me. 1. I have been blessed with a wonderful Christian family. Not just my immediate family, but my exstended family as well. I do not know of one family member that is not a follower of Christ and I never realized, until recently, how incredibly rare and awesome that is! 2. The relationship I have with my family. I love them so much and it fills my heart with joy everytime we are ALL able to be together. 3. New friendships. The friends I have made at Rochester College have been and I know will continue to be encouraging, God serving, stretching, and fun. I know that they will be there for me no matter what. 4. Old friendships. Though I have grown apart from many of my friends that I had in high school, anytime I am able to catch up with them and be with them is a special moment. 5. My lovely ladies of Οmicron Ωmega Ζeta. I really do not know what I wou...

      This weekend I joined RC's Campus Ministry in our annual Shak-a-thon. This was my second time participating in Shack-a-Thon and I can't even begin to say how thankful I am that I decide to join in on it again this year.  Before I go any further I want to apologize for how scrambled and messy this post will be; I have a lot running through my mind from the weekend and am still trying to process it all.  A bit of a back story: The summer of 2012 I went on a mission trip it Knoxville TN. While we were there we fed hundreds of homeless people through Lost Sheep Ministries, we helped Angelic Ministries sort clothing and furniture for their homeless(or almost homeless) program, we also worked on a few painting projects. Working with and for the homeless/at risk people there sparked a passion within me that I had no idea was there.  The trip to Knoxville was the reason I decided to study Christian Ministry with a minor in Social Work.  Now to th...

This is my first blog post and I am exhausted from the weekend. That being said, this post will be scattered and messy, but I knew if I didn't post it now it wouldn't happen.         The past five days I have been staying at my church, Valley Church of Christ, for our annual mission "trip", MISSION:POSSIBLE. During those five days, we camped out at the church building, eat together, and serve the surrounding community together by helping people at there homes by painting, building decks, doing yard work, roofing, putting up siding, etc. This was my fifth year being involved in MP and it just may have been my favorite one yet. MISSION:POSSIBLE changes lives. Seeing a transformation in a person in just five days is such an incredible thing to witness and I believe it is safe to say that every single person who was involved in MP was touched and changed in one way or another.  The spiritual energy high at church this morning was just awes...