The Lady on the Corner or Finding Joy

I was telling Allen recently about a friend down the street.

I see her life as being a fairy-tale princess life.  Her three adult children are good and active in the church.  Her husband has a steady job with a very good income.  She lives in a beautiful home.  She is very healthy.  As far as I can tell, she has not suffered any of these events in her life, thus far:

untimely death of a child or loved one
catastrophic illness
job loss
family betrayal
depression
children letting go of the rod

It made me wonder about the belief that sorrow will come into anyone's life.  While I certainly don't wish bad things to happen on anyone, I was thinking about the seeming lack challenges or hardship in her life and expressed that to Allen.

He said something so wise that it caught me up short:

"You don't really know what she has suffered because she has found great JOY in living the Gospel."

What a great response.  I DON'T know about her challenges; if any of those have happened to her, those are not things she focuses on.  And, when I see her, she has the JOY of the Gospel in her eyes, life, demeanor.

It was a moment that I want to remember and apply in my own life.

To find the JOY of living the Gospel.