1.11.2011

Finding Joy - Week 1

I didn't find much joy in the last year.  I know it was there right in front of me, but I wasn't looking for it.  

I choose to let other things cloud the joy that was surrounding me.

One of my goals for this year, I want to be more intentional about seeing the joys that surround me.  As a reminder of the joys I am going to document them each week here.  There may be joys that overlap each week, there may be joys that seem obvious, and there may be weeks where the list is short but I will celebrate each week, each day, and each joy.  This is part of a journey to live a better story.

The joys:
* mauryn has a hard time opening the cupboard where we store our school supplies and often needs someone to open it for her.  Landon took a rope and tied it to the door handle so she could open the door on her own.

* the check came in the mail from the insurance company to fix our hardwood floor after lance's accidental flooding of our laundry room which spilled into the kitchen.

* watching my kids play just dance 2 on the wii ... laughing and delighting in each other
* the teens/college kids who fill our home on sunday nights... loving on our kids and growing in relationship with God and each other.  this week two of our college kids are going back to school after break so we had a game night consisting of some mario kart, football, and just dance on the wii as well as some made games of angry birds on the ipad.
* mauryn is starting to show an interest in letters and writing. just like her mama she is a list maker.
* saying yes.  allowing landon and mauryn time to play on the rope swing in the gym
  * opening a package and finding bubble wrap and the delight of little feet popping the bubbles
* a brother and sister snuggling on the floor after baths
* mauryn's drawing of me
* morgan had a friend who stayed with us this weekend while her parents were out of town.  on saturday we had planned to go to an indoor arcade type place with games, mini golf, laser tag, etc.. for the afternoon.  landon and morgan each had some free tickets to use there.  as we were getting ready to leave a friend called to have mauryn over to play {joy!}  while landon, morgan, and morgan's friend played for hours, i sat in the cafeteria and read {joy!} i was even able to finish my book!

* saying yes to mauryn wearing morgan's old tap shoes while out running errands. yes they were loud and she couldn't walk very fast but she loved it! 
what were some of your joys this week?

6 comments:

Janelle said...

Rediscovering my blog and reconnecting with treasured friends...big joy!

Saying NO to helping plan a huge event in our town...this is big because the old me would have said yes and regretted every minute of it. Freedom!

Denise said...

love it!

i'm actually thinking of doing something similar on my blog. there are so many moments i don't document, that i wish i would...for joy's sake!

Susan said...

Way to be a yes mom and a joy seeker

Stacey said...

One of our joys is checking if you have any new updates to the blog (Anna loves to discover it first and tell me)! Another joy, although usually monthly, is receiving letters from your house...my kids don't get mail very often so they are so very excited when it does happen.

What a great idea, documenting the joys because sometimes it seems like there aren't many, but when you do sit and think about it there are many.....you may have inspired me to do the same!

Take care - Stacey

Jeni said...

Seeing Mauryn wearing those tap shoes at the mall was one of the joys of my week. It was so cute! And I loved that you let her!

Alana said...

I love this. So many joys right there. Every. Day. It's just recognizing them. My joys...fluffy brown blanket, cute (albeit sick) boy in his jammies. My favorite lavender spray. See, I'm already smiling. I need to do this more often! :-)