Finding Joy

With all the hurt I've been dealing with over the past few days, I've struggled to find the joy I had so easily experienced with my boys just last week. I've been reading my Bible with Justin at night to help keep me centered, and while it definitely helps, I thought I could use a simple, visual reminder that would help me throughout the day when reading my Bible isn't exactly feasible.

I was thinking about different things I could make for our house that could keep joy at the forefront, and while I was breaking down a Kleenex box for recycling, I got an idea. I could use the box to make a simple piece of art for our living room. I liked the pattern on the box (gray with white dots), so I used one side of the box as the background, and then cut out a small square of cardboard from the other side of the box to use as my mini canvas. I stamped "Be Joyful" on it, glued it together, and presto! It was finished! Here's a picture.

It's small, but it definitely serves it purpose. Plus, I feel good about eliminating more waste by re-using the box, and I get to add to the feeling of worship in our home. I love it! Levi saw me setting it up on the bookshelf and decided to help me decorate, so he added some pieces of trash from his doodad basket to the shelves. Haha!

Speaking of joy, another thing I've been trying to do is to actively think of things throughout my day that make me joyful. Things like hanging clothes out to dry on our clothesline (I know that sounds lame, but it's super peaceful.),eating healthy foods (yay Quinoa!), watching Lincoln eat his solid foods like a champ, and remembering what an awesome husband I have.

Over the weekend, Justin had Friday and Monday off so we decided to go to Schmaltz's and Brazos Books as a family. It was fun to spend time together, eat delicious sandwiches, and search through a perfectly crowded, used book store. It helped bring me back to center a little bit.

On Saturday I had an hour-and-a-half massage (hello!), which I HIGHLY recommend to everyone! The additional 30 minutes made a huge difference. Then, Justin surprised me with a date! We went out to Luigi's in McGregor, had some seriously amazing cheese pizza (who knew?), and then went to downtown Waco for some Pokey O's. Best dessert ever! I hadn't been to either of these places, so it was lots of fun getting to try some local gems for the first time, and of course, hanging out with just Justin for a night was really great. We're tring to make a point of going on dates regularly, so hopefully we'll keep this up and it will be the start of something awesome.

Overall, this past weekend has been healing for me. I really needed it and I feel like I'm getting back to where I want to be.