Joyfull Living

It seems like Mother's Day just happened...like last weekend! My Mother's Day was wonderful. Especially as I learn through life's seasons that it is not about gifts, pampering or being doted on that is important. When all my sons gather in one place, that is truly the best gift! Now, here we are with Father's Day approaching.  Father's Day is a bit of a challenge for me to find the perfect gift. My father passed away many years ago. I focus the gratitude of fatherhood to my husband, who is a wonderful father. He loves his sons and daughter in law fervently and always seeks their best. How do you express love for a true man''s man who is filled with integrity and purpose?  A home cooked meal is a must, but sometimes I long for something extra special to show my love and gratefulness. DaySpring shared a fantastic printable - 8 Notes for Dad's Bathroom Mirror .  Simply download these notes, print them off, cut out, write a personal message on t...

Have you ever had one of those days where something happened that changed the circumstances for the rest of your life?  Most of us have experienced times like this which can be for good or bad.  Things like: Marriage Divorce Births Deaths Accidents Betrayals The good things are cherished and embraced.  They often bring a new life, brighter circumstances, renewed hope.  We eagerly walk down the path they present. The bad things make the same significant changes as life will never be the same following them. But they are not eagerly embraced, and may be questioned, railed on as unfair, thought of as destructive for us.  Two of the most life changing events in my life happened in June and were one week apart.  Today is the anniversary of my father's unexpected death. 29 years ago our family was in the throes of wedding plans. My wedding was one week away and along with finalizing wedding details, we were packing and preparing to move int...

May is the month in our area for wildflowers.  The roadsides are covered with vibrant yellows, pinks and purple flowers that are just gorgeous!  There is an area where I do my daily walk that usually provides moments of pure beauty to gaze at. Except for this year. The spring in our area was unusually dry.  As the wildflowers bloomed, they didn't receive the rain that would help them to flourish and were smaller in size and not as beautiful as in past years.  Each morning as I walked past the place the flowers bloomed, I noticed that they seemed to quickly die out. Finally it looked like wildflower season was over.  Then, would you believe, the rains came.  There has been almost 2 weeks of rainy days, which we desperately needed.   But, even after being scorched, parched and then rained excessively on, the flowers came back! Seeing the flowers come back for a second round of blooms brought a smile to my face and ...

The sweetest thank you card came in the mail recently. It is always a blessing to receive handwritten notes with kind words!  However, the last sentence made me totally laugh out loud and praise Jesus at the same time!  "You do everything with grace and ease." were the beautiful words.  This was sent as a result of a Sunday lunch.  I have to tell you about this lunch.  We invited some out of town guests over for Sunday lunch.  The weather forecast was for heavy rain and our guests were eager to eat and travel home quickly. The morning was spent preparing as much of the meal as possible, then we headed to church.  As church ended, the skies poured down rain!  Attempts to get home quickly vanished.  Our dear guests arrived at our home before we did and we arrived home wet, late with a few last minute food preparations to finish.  Normally, this would have been a hospitality nightmare....except for grace.  Through the years...

Words are powerful tools in our hands (or mouth!). Depending on our aim, we can make them arrows that can build up or tear down. They can impart wisdom or bring shame. They can deliver encouragement or deflate the spirit. Words can be a weapon or a healing balm. A welcome sound or a dreaded racket.  It is easy to remember words spoken by others into our lives. Some build us up and when we remember them, give us a warm feeling deep down in our hearts! They inspire us to become what those words spoke to us. Maybe we heard words that cut deep.  They too echo in our minds with a taunting cry and reminder of failure or mistakes. The voices we choose to listen to affect us greatly. We long to choose to remember the good words.  The Bible tells us that 'death and life are in the power of the tongue."  We cannot do anything about harmful words in the past, but we can begin today to choose to give words of life to those around us. Because words often seem to fly ou...

How often do you step on a scale? How does it make you feel?  That simple act of stepping on a scale can bring a vast range of emotions. Disappointment, despair, determination to get the scale moving can happen if the scale is moving up, elation and victory if the numbers creep down.  If you're not a regular weigh-er or are avoiding the scale, a step up may also be a wake up!  If that step up to the scale brings a number your not happy with,  here are a few tips to make the scale move down! 1. START NOW AND START SMALL You gained weight…it’s a bummer, but you can’t dwell on it, or pacify it with chocolate!  Move forward. Instead of saying “tomorrow will be the day I start", just begin. Once you start you are closer to finishing. Most people love that post workout high,the feeling of accomplishment and endorphin rush, but the toughest part is beginning a workout.  Apply the same philosophy to food and goal setting. Instead of focusing on the...

You know that a woman never runs out of make up!  Recently my foundation was running low.  Although an order was put in for more, it had not arrived yet and I was scraping the bottom and the sides to get what I could to use.  My life was feeling like that.  Routine, daily tasks, running on auto pilot. Work, church, home, so much to do but the same things done over and over. I was running on empty, just scraping the sides to get what was needed.   This weekend will be Mother's Day. Having lost my mother several years ago, it seems like a hump has to be crossed this time of the year. A time to acknowledge the pain of loss that is always there before turning the corner to thankfulness for her life and engaging in what she taught me. A recent devotion talked about a joyful mother. This was not me this week! The passage was from Psalms 34 and one I dearly love.  "They looked to Him and were radiant."   A joyful mother brightens the hom...