Bring Back the Joy

We talk about joy. We memorize Scripture verses about joy. But few of us, if we're honest, experience real joy. Why? Where did it go? How can we recapture or experience for the first time the joy that is promised to those who love God? In Bring Back the Joy, Sheila Walsh points to the way to experiencing joy in the midst of life, in the presence of all that's true about who we are. Sharing from her own life and the lives of her friends, Sheila illustrates the things that steal our joy and gives practical steps to restoring joy at a depth we've never experienced before--through resting in the one who is Joy. Bring Back the Joy expands on the 1998 theme of the popular Women of Faith conferences. Sheila Walsh is one of the conference speakers. One of the distinctives of the Christian faith is joy -- an abiding, overflowing gladness of heart that wells up from within. Joy that exists independent of circumstances, rejoicing in the best of times and triumphing in the worst. We all know this. We've memorized the Scripture verse that says the joy of the Lord is our strength. But, if we're honest, many of us will admit that our own experience of joy is a far cry from what the Bible seems to promise. Have we missed something? Where did the joy go -- and more important, how can we get it back? Sheila Walsh knows the importance of joy. Her own difficulties ultimately became a journey to the kind of joy that can't be withered by life's dry seasons or overturned by circumstances -- because it's rooted in Christ himself. In Bring Back the Joy, Sheila calls us to a deeper joy. With wisdom, she exposes the negative forces designed to steal our joy -- sin, law, fear, anger, unforgiveness, hopelessness, loss of vision, and shame. And she shows how to sow life-changing seeds of joy -- through obedience, transparency, friendship, grace, simplicity, risk, surrender, and learning to simply "lighten up!" Capturing the theme of the 1998 Women of Faith conferences, Bring Back the Joy is a warm, encouraging, and richly personal invitation to experience the joy that comes from loving and being loved by the Most Important Person in the Universe.