PURE JOY
by Colleen DeLoach
February 11, 1999

I want to introduce you to Wayne Forde. He is the person being baptized in the picture. Eric Yates is the one baptizing him. Eric and Danny Hobson had several Bible studies this past summer with Wayne, along with a very good friendship.

Wayne is a very special man to our family. He and our daughter, Brooke have been in a relationship for a little over two years. He is currently employed as a presidential bodyguard in Guyana and has held this job since September of 1992. He is an extremely disciplined and well respected young man. We've grown to love him dearly and are very proud of him.

I chose to title this article PURE JOY because recently there was an incident that stirred my thinking of just what is "pure joy." A close friend of ours had been in a farming accident and nearly lost his life. He made extremely fast progress in his recovery. His first Sunday back at church, one of the members made the comment, when they saw him, "Now I know what pure joy looks like!"

That is what I see when I look at this picture of Wayne's baptism..... "Now I know what pure joy looks like!!" Isn't that a beautiful picture? When Wayne first started his Bible studies with Eric and Danny, he asked, "What can I do to catch God's eye?" Well, he found it !!!!!

As Christians, we can have pure joy. Does it mean we will always be happy? NO. Being happy is based on outward circumstances. JOY is an inner-peace we can have because we are secure in our relationship with God, no matter what our outward circumstances are.

Can you see pure joy in the picture of Wayne? Do you think he's happy all of the time? No. But he is secure in knowing that God is with him when he is facing the troubles that come.

What about YOU? Have you "caught God's eye"? Do you need to find "pure joy"? Let me know if I can help you find a Bible study that will lead you to a relationship with God. I would love to hear from you.

Love,
Colleen DeLoach

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