All of us busy moms have to remember to take time to read God’s Word, pray and still our own hearts! The Bible is full of scriptures like “The joy of the Lord is our strength” and “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith…”. Joy is a beautiful, precious gift from the Lord. It can be so easy at times to lose that joy because of the busy-ness of life. Life has a way of consuming our thoughts. Taking care of little ones, working with older ones, work pressures, and relationships can all put a stress on our joy. One particular thing that came to me while reading is that bitterness can also steal our joy. Having bitterness in our spirit robs us of life’s most beautiful moments. Comparing ourselves to others, envy, and jealousy all lead down a road to bitterness. Bitterness can cause us to be harsh and to treat others unfairly—sometimes unknowingly! One thing we must do as Christians is to pray that bitterness finds no place in our hearts. Let’s choose joy! I encourage you to listen to this message on bitterness. —Michelle Duggar