This Week's Joy Moments

I think I've mentioned how despite a very difficult time in our lives -- just overly challenging in more ways than I can count -- the Lord has really been working in me to Seek Joy amidst every day.  Those words, "Seek Joy!" are the banner on my cell phone.  I have a piece of carved word art in my kitchen in bright red that reads: "JOY."  I try to visually remind myself in every way to seek joy no matter my immediate circumstances.

In some ways, I've become annoying to friends and family with this attitude.  I do have to step back sometimes and allow them to verbalize their struggles and to empathize with them before trying to point out the joy amidst whatever pain they're feeling.  There's a balance there.  I'm still learning.

In the meantime, I picked up a book this week at Marshall's (I love how Marshall's has the randomest book selection that sometimes yields just the right reading material) called, The Book of Awesome.  It's not really a new book or a new concept, but the book fell into my hands at just the perfect time.  There is a website/blog that came before the book and the author seems to maintain even still and if you're having a ho-hum kind of day, I recommend you check it out and be reminded of your own joy moments this week.  There really are so many that get easily overlooked.

So here are my top Joy Moments from this week, in no particular order.  I even got some pictures of some of them, so you won't be bored with just my words.  (Though my husband reminded me that I don't need to feel threatened by the thousands of beautiful blogs out there with more pictures than words, because to me, words are art!  I can feel proud of the fact that I think so.)

1. Finding this book to help me further my ability to seek joy among the simple, mundane moments in life.

2. Also at Marshall's, finding more word art for our house.  I thought these were a perfect reflection of important values in our lives, my love of word art and a fine representation of how education is ingrained in just about every facet of our lives as a homeschooling family.  Get it? Dictionary skills!

3. The process of deciding the perfect place to hang these new additions to our home decor.  I'm thinking our front room ... but which wall?  Hmmm.  So many things to consider.

4. Dyson vacuums and our new Dyson Animal.  We bought our first Dyson back in 2005 and it has served this very messy family (with a dog!) very well.  It started having some issues after we started using sprinkle powders on the carpet because it really does clog up the breathe-y parts of the machine too much.  But we've limped by still finding joy in having a good vacuum.  Now our original Dyson will become our upstairs machine, so we don't have to drag the new one up and down the stairs.

5. Getting the new Dyson Animal for free.  True!  We'd earned bank rewards on a credit card or something and that, plus a sale at Target, enabled us to get this quite expensive vacuum for nothing.

6. Getting free attachments for our new Dyson Animal because we had remembered to register our original Dyson and they were trying to convince us to buy another one now that it's been six years.  Some might call it coincidence that we both earned bank rewards and a free coupon from Dyson at exactly the same time, but I call it: God's Provision.  And that's always something joyful!!

7. 345 hot air balloons in the sky all at once.  I know the number because the Fiesta broke a world's record this year.  This is our third Fiesta to witness and I tell you, I don't know that I'll ever tire of it.  My heart beats a little faster and the excitement of getting fun pictures and the challenge of trying to find the right roads to drive down to get better pictures is just more joy than one mama deserves.  It is just So. Much. Fun.

8. Clicking the the camera button at exactly the right moment.  There was less than a second that this balloon passed in front of the sun, eclipsing it enough that I could take a picture looking right at it without problems.  It was one of those moments that I knew I had gotten a pretty cool picture, even before I checked the playback image on my camera.

9. Spotting a balloon landing in one son's favorite colors -- even though that son (H) had opted to sleep in instead of coming with the family for the balloon chasing -- and then sending his brother to get a collectible card for H in addition to the one he wanted to get for himself.  When the pilot would only give Z one card (not one for the absentee brother), Z gladly gave H the one card of that balloon.  They are even in a competition for who will collect the most cards this week -- and still he was generous -- and that, my friends, is my joy moment associated with this particular balloon and this particular week.

Never mind the bonus joy item being that this balloon is named SonRise and the collectible cards have a verse from the Bible on them: Matthew 4:19.  I love when people do big, noticeable things for the Lord.  Like put a giant balloon in the sky and then hand out cards making a statement about their beliefs.  Cool.

10. This sock.  It came through the laundry this week (yes, just the one), and it gave me a momentary grin because the sock is about five years old (or more?).  Traditionally, I give our kids Christmas socks every December, and then they proceed to wear them all year round.  This particular sock is half of a pair I gave H when he was around six.  They are shrunken and stretched now, but there is not a single hole.  I never spend more than about $1 on any pair of holiday socks and usually that means that they are holey and worn within six months or so -- certainly before the holiday comes around again.  But somehow, through constant wearing, this particular sock has continued to thrive without holes or major wear and tear.  So the joy came from both the quality of that purchase so many years ago and also, reminiscing about our big, ol' 11-1/2 year old way back when he was just six.  Awww.