JOY

A friend of mine and fellow blogger,  Pink Daisy Jane , has written about looking for JOY in our everydays. To seek out  those things that bring us joy - and what better time than now in this season of great JOY! So, Het, I'll take your challenge. I don't know that I'll reach 100 joys but the important thing is to look for it and to know it when we feel it.

I am generally and  genuinely a joyful person. I don't think there's much that I can't find joy in - so for me this is more of a challenge to recognize that what I'm seeing or hearing or feeling is joy, a true joy that comes from God. I believe that one of the greatest gifts He has given to us is joy. I think it gives us a tiny glimpse of who He is in the only way we can grasp the immensity of what He intends for us.

So, what brings me joy?

1. Hearing other people voice the same exact thing that I've been thinking and knowing in that moment that it's a whisper from God.
2. Any song that lifts my spirit, when the lyrics and the music are knitted seamlessly together.
3. Watching my children in their own element and seeing that they are people that I want to know.
4. The amazement that you see in the eyes of a saint that has their prayer answered.
5. When I see 3 deer in my backyard and they aren't afraid of me out on my deck.
6. Watching my husband with our girls -
7. Hearing about the good deeds that my husband has done but never talks about.
8. Knowing that my husband loves me, no matter what.
9. Reading a good story so that you feel like you're living it.
10. Corny, cheesy movies.
11. When I can look around the room and see someone who just gets what I'm thinking.
12. Seeing men being godly examples
13. Sitting at my cottage with my family around, knowing that my kids are doing what I used to do, I'm doing what my parents used to and my parents are doing what my grandparents used to. The familiarity of generational experience -it's cool.
14. Worshipping God with my family
15. Recognizing my step-daughter's heart.
16. Listening to Katie sing.
17. Serving a meal to good friends
18. Having deep conversations
19. Cuddling with my husband on cold nights.
20. Watching my son become a man
21. Seeing how my adult daughter treats others
22. Wrestling with a verse in the Bible and finally getting a revelation.
23. Hearing great harmony
24. Smelling the air after a spring rain.
25. Christmas

OK, that's just off the top of my head- Now, I need to pay attention to when I feel that building up in my spirit- you know that heart-bursting, got to raise your hand up, tear springing, got to dance feeling? You know you get it- what gets you feeling that way? And when you find out -share it. Make sure others know that they have been a part of your joy. Most important? Make sure you get it. And thank the Giver and Creator of JOY for giving us a way to glimpse eternity in some small way.

May you have joy this season.