Joyfull Living

If I could choose a characteristic to describe myself, one of the ones would be JOY! Joy is part of my name, the meaning of my name is "Joyful One". I have experienced a deep, abiding joy that comes only from the Lord, and I try to express joy to all of those around me. Quick background: I sing in our church's choir. I do not sing well, but as the Bible says, I "make a joyful noise unto the Lord". Music is not my gift...but I like to sing. Yesterday as myself and two sons were traveling home from school, I had the Easter cantata music playing and was "practicing" singing while driving. Out of the blue - dear son (age 13) asks, "Why don't you ever smile when you're up in the choir?" This came as a surprise, I was very happy up there, didn't I smile? I asked him what he meant, and did anyone else smile? Kids are so honest: " Yes, everyone else smiles but you." Then he elaborates: "You sit up there and rea...

Today is Wednesday and it is always fun to share over at Amydean's a beautiful Bible verse. Here is the one I found for today. Hope that you enjoy it!

My boys now created My Space pages and are speeding by me with their technological knowledge and creativity! Just to attempt to keep up, I uploaded two of their videos to show some of their activities. (And mainly to make sure that I could do this!! Take a peek!

Then these guys showed up: And wanted to pose for the camera: Who could resist?

Today is one of those lazy Saturdays! The weather is nice, there is nothing pressing to do, it is quiet and still. So, I took the camera and wandered outside for a few shots. Here are some flowers that bring some winter color: More flowers around:

I promise this will be the last post about sugar! Tomorrow will mark one week that I have gone without sweets. I still use sugar in my coffee etc., so it has not been eliminated from my diet, but I have not had the cookies, cake, desserts that I had been so addicted to. It has been a good week though. At first I felt "yucky" and could tell that my body was releasing the toxins from my body. Then after that I had renewed energy and just felt good! It seems like I got some confirmation that I was on the right track. First an emai came - not verified, but was from a medical standpoint about the dangers of sugar. It talked about cancer cells feeding off sugar - which I wasn't very concerned about, but very interesting anyway. Then in a conversation at work about a dinner menu, the talk turned to sugar and how damaging it was to the body. Lastly a newsletter from Prevention was on sugar and the damage it can do to your skin! So those were encouragements through the w...

As a wife, we want to make our husbands proud of us. But, as we have learned -Superwoman is a myth. It takes effort and time to mature into a godly woman...and a lot of prayer! Here is a prayer from the Stormie O'Martian prayer calendar which I loved. It is everything I want to be and this is the only place to get it...in prayer. "Lord, teach me how to take care of myself and stay attractive to my husband. Grow me into a creative and confident woman who is rich in mind, soul and spirit. Make me the kind of woman he can be proud to say is his wife."

I am joining Amydeane for Word-Filled Wednesday. The purpose of Word filled Wednesday is to share God’s word through photo’s & a verse! Hope that you enjoy this one!

Ok, remember I'm trying not to do sugar this week!! So far I haven't had any for two days... that is a major feat. It has gone well, and I can tell my body is detoxing...aches, headache, etc., which tells me that this is something I really needed to do. So...here are our breakfast choices: A nice plate of warm cinnamon buns Or this: Oranges, grapes and blueberries Remember that good decisions come one at a time! I chose the latter!

Through the years my family (well, my husband and I - still working on the children) has adapted a pretty healthy lifestyle. We try to eat healthy - lots of fruits and vegetables and exercise regularly. However, there is one hindrance I have trouble overcoming in my quest for good health...SWEETS! I love sweets, candy, cake, brownies, any kind of dessert - I love. If there is a dessert in the house, I will eat some everyday until it is gone. I have tried to rationalize - if I only have a bite, I'm not depriving myself and this will not get out of control. But, my sugar habit is steadily speeding out of control. This weekend I was at a birthday party, talking to a group of moms while the birthday cake was being passed out. When offered to one mom, she said "No thanks". When someone asked her about it, she said that she was off sugar. Turns out, she recently had a baby and had gestational diabetes. She had to remove sugar from her diet for her health. Since then...

Here is "Soccer Bob" When he was younger, he loved "Bob the Builder" and got the nickname "Bob". Since we are in soccer season - here is "Soccer Bob" Soccer Bob with his team: Soccer Bob in action!

Don't you just love good weekends? This past weekend was one of those weekends which were great! And on top of that we got to eat special each day! Friday night we had a choir dinner and practice at church. We enjoyed a fantastic meal together and then attempted to go over Easter music afterward! Saturday we had a soccer game for the youngest son - 6 yrs. and it was lots of fun to watch. We also had family in from out of town which is always a treat and all the men enjoyed fishing that afternoon. Well...with all of the fish that was caught, what else is there to do but have a fish fry??!! That is what we did Saturday evening. Sunday we enjoyed a lunch again with all of the family before they left. Of course I had to walk all three days just to keep from feeling like a whale! Today I'm working on settling into the regular schedule for the week. Have to do some shopping, cleaning and errands. I have been so inspired by the posts I read over at Rose of Sharon and how Shar...

Today is Show and Tell Friday over at Kelli's House I would like to show a picture I found years ago that I love. It is strategically placed above the door and it reads: Each day is God's gift to you - Make it blossom and turn into a thing of beauty. It helps to remind our family to be thankful for each day and then in turn be a blessing wherever you may go! Make a visit over to Kelli's place and see the other show and tells!

Thought that I would share this daily devotion/prayer from the Power of a Praying Wife's daily calendar. Lord, make me my husband's helpmate, companion, champion, friend and support. Help me to create a peaceful, restful, safe place for him to come home to. Great prayer isn't it??!!

It has been a while since my last post...things have been "off kilter" around here. Especially in the area of homemaking. I do office/financial work and at the end of the year there is so much to get prepared. Things got really busy. Around the house, the workload stayed busy, but my energy level dropped! For a few days (weeks!), the tasks I usually enjoyed became burdensome and irritating. What I once embraced with joy, was now an imposition and chore to get done, things like cooking, cleaning, laundry etc. I couldn't put me finger on it until I read a devotion that put me back on track, see, I was "off kilter". Early in our marriage it was agreed upon that when we had young children, I would be a stay at home mom (SAHM). With our oldest sons, I was blessed to do that. Then I went to work for a few years and then became pregnant again. I was blessed to take another stint at home. Now that our youngest is in school, I work a part time job, but consider ...