Short Stories

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Knowing Joy
By: Donna Pampalone

Joy finished packing the last of her things, she zipped her duffle bag closed and paused for a moment. "Lets see," she said to herself. "Do I have everything that I will need?" She thought carefully for a moment and than said out loud, "Oh no, how can I forget to pack something that is so important and special to me?" She walked over to her nightstand, opened the drawer, reached into it, and removed something that was wrapped in a purple, velvet cloth. As soon as she had it in her hands she said, " How could I forget you, my sweet little bundle, you go where I go, you are a part of me." She than clutched the bundle to her heart and than gave it a kiss.

She quickly walked back to where her duffle bag lay on her bed, unzipped it, and put the purple, velvet bundle deep into the bag saying "You will go where I go, you will be safe and sound tucked deep within my bag, I can go nowhere without you." She looked around her room, checking carefully not to forget anything else. She paused for a moment, to make sure she had everything she would need, she was sure that she had gathered everything she needed for her journey. She gave a big sigh and said, "I think that should do it! She zipped the bag closed, and set it on the floor close to her bed. She had always kept her little bundle near by in her nightstand when she slept, and she had the comfort to know that it was close at hand now in her bag on the floor.

Everything was ready, tomorrow she would be leaving, and she would be on her way to a new life, to pursue finding her hopes, dreams, and happiness. She was always in search of them, always feeling like she could not find them, yet she was desperate to do so. She was determined, and had decided that she would go to the ends of the earth just to find them; to grasp them and have them be accomplished. She was convinced that leaving this place, and giving up all that she had ever known would change her life. She thought the journey that she had planned would lead her to that which she so earnestly sought after. What she did not know however; was that she did not have the faith to believe in her hopes, and dreams, and therefore, happiness, was not evident to her.

Joy straightened up her room, she wanted to leave it in a tidy fashion, she would not leave a mess, after all, her life was a mess, and that was why she was leaving. She wanted to leave behind all her problems and the difficult challenges that they brought into her somewhat, miserable life. She was blind to the fact that she refused to acknowledge issues that she needed to deal with. They were difficult issues, which seemed impossible to her, and she believed that running from them was the only answer to getting rid of them.

She showered and got ready for bed, all the while anxiously anticipating the coming of morning when she would leave this place and all her troubles behind. She got into bed and snuggled up in the covers, she closed her eyes, and said, “Tomorrow I will be free from all the troubles in my life”. In a short time, she dozed off.

She fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the busy day that she had. As she fell deeper into slumber, she had a dream. Someone was speaking to her, she did not recognize the voice, but it was a soft-spoken, gentle, voice.

"Joy all of your life, you have been on a quest to find your hopes and dreams in order to find true happiness. You are planning to leave behind all that you know in search of them, and you are running from the unlovely things in your life to try to find the desired things. Do you not know, that you are chasing after something that you can only capture by looking deep inside of yourself? Do you not know that the challenges that face you here are not impossible, and that they are placed in your life so that you can conquer them, and when you do conquer them it will change your life forever? If you run from them, they will follow you wherever you go, and you will miss out on your opportunity to find what you are looking for.”

The voice continued speaking and said, "The answers you seek, are not contained in the little purple bundle, which you hold so dear; but they are locked up deep within your heart where you cannot see them. Your hopes, dreams, and happiness are the desires of your heart, they cannot be found contained in a piece of cloth, in people, or in the vastness of this world. You have wrapped them up and have bound them tightly in a prison where they cannot escape. Those things, which are contained inside of the little bundle, are fear, pain, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and sorrow. Because they are held so tightly, you do not have the vision to see them for what they are, and therefore they are a hindrance to achieving what you are seeking in your life. Those things will remain trapped there until you believe and know them for what they are, and only than will you be able to release them. Once you have acknowledged them, and take on the challenges that come with them, you will grow and achieve the things you have not been able to grasp, and then you will be free from them, and you will be free to find and experience your hopes, dreams, and happiness which have been buried deeply beneath those unlovely things within your heart.”

"You need faith to believe that the treasures of your hopes and dreams are there, deep within you. When you release the unlovely contents in the purple bundle, you will feel those things surface from your heart with a sweet release, and immediately you will be free to enjoy the desires of your heart. Joy, when you release all the things in the purple bundle, you will find your hopes, dreams, and happiness flowing freely from your heart, they will no longer be trapped beneath the things you carry in the little bundle, and than you will know the true meaning of happiness and joy.

Finally the soft, gentle voice said, “Follow me, place your trust in me and you shall be set free, cast your heavy burdens and cares at my feet and I will make your burden light. Know that in your journey of life, I am with you always, and I will never leave you. I love you, for you are my child.”

He was gone but the spirit of His peace remained and Joy slept in complete serenity.

Joy woke the next morning with a feeling of absolute peace, one that surpassed all understanding. She clearly understood everything that was spoken to her in the dream. She sat up in her bed and said, “I understand now, there is no more confusion in my mind.”

"I now know of faith, and how to believe, and that there is hope in Him, and that with Him I can accomplish my hearts desires. I know what I must do, I must release those awful things which I have held imprisoned in the little purple bundle." As she said it, she reached down for her duffle bag. She opened it, reached deep inside, and pulled out the little purple bundle.

She held it in her palm in the lightest fashion, no longer holding it tightly as she had in the past, she held out her arm with her palm open and said, " I release the unlovely things contained in this bag, they are no longer imprisoned inside, they are free, and now I too am free."

She then pulled on the tattered white ribbon that held the bundle securely together, and as the ribbon fell away, the bundle opened and Joy saw that there was nothing inside. She stared with amazement at the empty piece of cloth that she held in her hands, it was true, those things which were contained inside of the bundle were now gone, they were no longer there, they did not exist, the little bundle was now nothing more than just a piece of cloth.

At that moment, she knew that the unhappiness in her life and the challenges she faced in her life were not impossible. She believed that she could face those challenges head on with Him leading and guiding her. She knew that with the Lord she would most definitely conquer the challenges before her, because she would not be doing it alone. She knew that this time, she would not run away like she had done so many times in the past; no, she would stay right here and face each new challenge as it came her way. She would not pass up the invitation to follow after Him in pursuit of her hopes, dreams, and happiness.
When Joy realized all this, she felt the spirit of the joy of the Lord burst forth from within her, filling her, freeing her. She now had hope, and she knew that her life had been changed forever, and that she was no longer the same girl she was before. He dwelled inside of her, and He had changed her and He had shown her that “joy comes in the morning” and she learned something she had never known before, she learned the true meaning of her name, “Joy”.

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