Finding joy

Dear Readers,

  Ever since December, when Benjamin had hand surgery and we found out about the surgery this summer, the theme of our house has been "joy". We made cookies that spelled out the word, and every time we found ourselves feeling upset and not in a celebratory mood, we made more cookies. Haha okay, so we didn't bake EVERY time we felt upset. Just a lot of the time. :) 

But actually, for as long as I can remember, anytime I've felt upset, Mom has reminded me that joy is a choice. It's impossible to always feel joy. You have to make a conscious effort to do so. And although by nature I'm kind of a glass-half-full kind of person, it doesn't take much to steal my joy. Surgeries snatch it away in an instant. 

So this season we have all made an effort to find joy...

I've found that where thankfulness is, joy is, also. And so about once a month I've been writing down a list of things I'm thankful for in my journal, in an effort to find, and keep, that joy. This month I thought I'd share a few on here. :) 

The small things are really my favorite things. I'm fairly certain going to the grocery store with Mom and Cate has been on my list before, haha. But today my first thing is going to be...

1.) Having a birthday party. I didn't really want to have one, but my brothers did, and so we had one...and I am thankful that we did! I really enjoyed it and still laugh to think of it. It was a lot of  fun to dress up and see dear friends. 

2.) Seeing Berkeley listed on the 'My Family Found Me' page on Reece's Rainbow...she is one of my favorite little angels listed and seeing she had a family made my heart smile! 

3.) Going on a field trip to the Japanese friendship gardens on our actual birthday...it was actually a  very funny experience. We wanted to be at the hospital in time to have lunch with Dad, but on the way to the gardens we were talking on Mom's phone. Henceforth, we had no directions. Sooo I told Mom to turn when I saw a building that looked kind of like it could be the Japanese friendship gardens, and got us lost. Haha! We ended up getting to spend a good 45 minutes there before getting to the hospital, though, so that was good. :) I actually really loved getting to drive around trying to find it, hehe (I told you I loved the small things, remember? :)) And lunch with Dad was wonderful, too. 

4.) (this will be my last one since it is the fourth month of the year, after all...)

Getting to spend time with my sweet friend yesterday. One of the main reasons I dislike parties is because I feel as if I only get about five minutes with everyone. So although I loved getting to see her last Saturday at our party, it was even more of  a treat to get to spend the day catching up yesterday! Sweet friends make life so much more joyful, and yesterday was such a gift. 

What are four things that you are thankful for this month? 

"Those who sow in tears
    shall reap with shouts of joy!
 He who goes out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    bringing his sheaves with him." ~Psalm 126:5-6

I hope you have a joy-filled May. Your blogger,

 Claire