Where is Joy?

Joy is not there when we comes back at the end for the month with thousand of dollars and have no one to spend it on.
Joy is there when we knows that the salary we have is able to support our family.
Joy is there when we comes back to our humble home and sees the face of our love ones.
Joy is there when we knows that we have someone that loves us unconditionally.
Joy is there when we accept that person into our lives.
Joy is there when we know that we have hope.

Today I've experience both joy and hope in a cab ride back home from YFC. We were invited to attend a seminar in YFC today. After that Tes, Leah and I went back home by a cab, Fiana is meeting PF and will come back later. During the cab ride, the taxi uncle (I think an Indian) told me his story. He told me that his mother-in-law (she was handicap and bedridden due to and accident many years ago) had an heart attack this morning and was send to the hospital, his father-in-law is a drunkard (due to business set back, and also he's the one that causes his wife to be handicap) don't even know how to dial 995 or 1777 to send his wife to the hospital in the morning. They used to be rich but due to the car accident that cause his mother-in-law to be handicap, they end up selling all their property so as to pay back the damages and compensation to others.
This uncle used to be a boss of a transport company but due to business failure he now drives a taxi at night, and he is only making ends meet. He had 3 children all below the age of 12 years old had to support his own family as well as caring for his in-laws. When he was saying all these he didn't sound a bit hopeless. He was full of hope and joy and even mentions that tomorrow he will send his kids to their weekly tuition and have their weekly Hainanise Chicken Rice as a family during lunch. After that they will visit their granny in the hospital. All these to be done tomorrow, after he had his 6 hours of sleep at 2am later.
When I got to my stop, I told him that I'm a Christian and ask if I could pray for him, he agreed and I said a simple prayer. Uncle I don't know if I will ever meet you again, but I would like to say thanks for showing me that we should have hope and joy even thou life is not a bed of roses, where everything just follow smoothly in place in front of us.
Jesus didn't promise his disciples frame or fortunes when he ask them to follow him, yet he told them that they should bear their own cross daily. But he did promise that we would have abundance life when we forsake our own life for his sake.
Hope the story from this taxi uncle encourages those who has lost hope and can't find where is joy.