Joy, everlasting

I was not afforded the privilege of knowing Joy Bausum well in this life. In fact, our paths intersected at only two brief points, both of them the weddings of mutual friends. The first time I met Joy, my friend Sarah (who went to be with the Lord in May of last year) and I had driven down to Slidell, Louisiana--just north of New Orleans--for the wedding of our friends Bridget and Aaron. We stayed with another friend, Courtney, and after a scary 3 AM arrival in the densest fog I've ever experienced, we slept a while and awoke to find another girl was also staying at Courtney's house, one whom none of us knew previously. Her name was Joy. She'd been to India with Bridget, and I was struck by her passion for missions (anyone who knows me can tell you I have a similar passion!)

The four of us--Courtney, Sarah, Joy, and I--spent the next few days hanging out, talking about Jesus and missions and love and everything in between, drinking copious amounts of hot liquids from Starbucks (we visited every night!), and just having some great fellowship. I'm certain the Lord was smiling down on the sight of four of His beautiful daughters enjoying one another's company the way sisters are meant to! After the wedding, we went our separate ways, and I never expected to encounter Joy again.

In April of this year, I traveled to South Carolina for the wedding of my old roommate from Teen Mania, Lindsay. I was meandering down the aisle looking for a place to sit when I turned and saw a face that looked familiar--I went up to Joy and said, "You were at Bridget & Aaron's wedding!" She remembered that we'd stayed in the same house and we spent so long chatting that I had to be asked to be seated so the ceremony could begin. :)

When Joy and I said goodbye that afternoon, we joked that we'd probably run into each other in the future, at another wedding! What we didn't realize then was that the next time we see one another will be a wedding--the best Wedding! The wedding of our Beloved to His Bride. It'll be the wedding feast of the Lamb, and oh! What a GLORIOUS day that will be! I look forward to that day, though I admit I'm a little jealous of Joy because she gets to be there now! And I have to wait. Joy is no longer lovesick for her Beloved, because He has come for her, and taken her to His home. When it is time for Him to come for me, I hope that I will be watching, waiting, and ready--and that I will go out fulfilling my calling.

[to be continued]