giggles in the Heart, JOY!

 This is a quote from a blog that I regularly follow. I though it was appropriate for my blog in many ways....

Life in Christ is  a constant, abiding joy.  For me, it’s a life radically different from what I planned,                     praise God!  It’s laughter and delight and love and hope and peace. Consistently. It’s a beautiful marriage  and  it’s wonderful friendships and a happy family and home. And it’s a constant state of awe and gratitude for life. It’s healing and forgiveness. And joy. Deep, abiding, giggles-in-the-heart joy. - Miniature Clay Pot.

I don't know that I could have written that any better.

Lord, help me to choose JOY each and every day. Even those days when I am faced with the most difficult circumstances, fill my heart with the JOY of You. JOY knowing that I will spend eternity in your presence without pain, without suffering. JOY in the anticipation that soon, very soon, I will get to spend every moment in worship and praise. Father, help me to continually feed my heart with Your love and grace, Your hope and peace, Your JOY. 

My JOY this year and forever is Jesus.

i've been bitten

This has been an awful week. AWWWful with a big ol' capital A. I think that sometimes always  usually, I get curve balls thrown at me and I can't seem to hit any because I am still back here on the plate expecting a straight throw. What is wrong with me! This week, I have been bitten by the technology curse...

Let me start by saying that I know that my problems are not anywhere near to what some people face on a daily basis. I totally get that. But right now, in this moment, I am venting!

If any of you know what I do for a living you know that my work laptop and work cell phone are the only way that I get work done. Well last week my laptop broke. I sent it off to get it fixed by our IT department at work and I finally (thank goodness) got it back on monday. I was doin' the happy dance!

Well, Tuesday came and I realized that a lot of stuff that was on my laptop before is now gone. A LOT. Two years worth of stuff. And no I am not talking about all that stuff you can "back up" or whatever...I mean like all my saved "favorites", my printers to every single clinic I go too (that is a lot of printers folks!), and other little stuff like my VZ access for my wireless card, and my scanner, and my personal printer. It is all gone. And I hate knowing that I have to reinstall every single thing. Ughhhh is how I feel. I guess what really irks me about it all was that my PC was not toast. It only had issues with Microsoft Office Suite. How is it that the IT department says they need to reinstall office, and somehow they reinstall me to an entirely different windows software?

So on top of that.... yesterday my brand spankin new work blackberry froze. and crashed. and will not unfreeze. so I spend all of last week without a laptop only to get it back and the other half of me gets broken. I can't make calls. I can't receive calls. I can't do anything on it. Again, so frustrating.

Luckily though a new one should arrive within 5 business days. JOY. There is my JOY!

I promised myself that my last year in my 20's was going to be something to remember. I pomised to live everyday with JOY and really live out this year. Well somebody better put some gas in my tank because I am crawling to a start...

Today I find JOY in knowing that I love my job no matter how inconvenient technology may make it. Today I find JOY in knowing that I saved a patient's insurance from terminating. He needs that coverage and I did it. Today I find JOY in being able to confide in a friend. 

Today, I choose Joy!

Lord, make me a joyful witness to those around me so that I can reflect Your glory.

29 feels so good

Well...it finally arrived....my birthday! 29 feels, well, oh-so-ahhhhhmazing!

So already, I am digging my new age. 

All of the people I love called and wished me a Happy Birthday. 

I love that. 

I really do. 

Tonight, Jon and I went to Square One for my birthday dinner. 

We had a fantastic time. We talked about everything under the sun... (on a side note...Don't you just love having that one person in your life that you can talk about your dreams, your desires, your feelings, your pain, your everything with..that alone was the best birthday gift I could ask for)

He also brought home a brand spankin' never-been-opened movie, The Lorax. 

That was not my only gift, but that was his surprise gift to me.

if you don't already know, I love kids movies. 

I have them all. Really.

So today started my 365 day journey of Joy and I will say it was just grand. 

29 is going to be the best year of my life I can already tell :-)

365 days to Joy

Next week I turn 29 years old.  Twenty-Nine. 

I've been thinking about it all week and honestly, 

I am dreading it. D-R-E-A-D-I-N-G it.

In one year, I will go from saying I'm in my "Twenties" to saying I'm in my "Thirties". 

My twenties sounds so "this-is-the-best-time-of-your-life".

 But thirty so....well, grown up old.

I can remember my parents when they were in their Thirties. 

As a kid, I thought that was old. 

I guess I don't think it is as much old now as I just hate knowing I will finally be to the first age I can remember my parents being. My parents were not physically "old" back then. 

My dad played basketball with us kids all the time, and was probably in better shape than I am in today. But you know, as a kid, your parents are old. 

And now here. I. am. 

29

I have been thinking a LOT about what I want my last year before 3-0 to look like. I know it is so cliché, but I want to do something great this next year. Not just do something, but really do everyday great. I want to purposely decide to be joyful.  

I want my twenties to go out with a bang!

I want my "last year" to be ahhhhmazing!

I want to have fun!

I want to feel alive!

I want to remember every part of this year! 

I want to do everyday with Joy!

I want to experience life every single day.

365 days of Joy!

1. Stop Facebook.

2. Exercise regularly.

3. Hot air balloon ride.

4. Read more. 

5. Find some happiness in every single day.

6. Give more.

7. Go on walks with the dogs.

8. Learn to light a match

9. Help people I don't even know

10. Volunteer somewhere

11. Go on a hike

12. Swim

13. Learn how to back up the boat and trailer

14. Invite my friends over for dinner

15. Cook more, eat out less

16. Go camping

17. Go to the mountains 

18. Take lots of pictures....& actually get some developed

19. Be more intentional

20. Go fishing with the love of my life.

21. Cut down out the criticizing

22. Forgive...let it go and be amazed by what you see through eyes of grace

23. Little Grand Canyon

24. Learn to Fly Fish

25. Go to a UGA football game for the 1st time ever

26. Love more. Love is giving what someone needs the most when they deserve it the least.

27. Make homemade peach ice cream

28. Consider starting a family.

29. Be faithful to Him. 

30. go to Alaska or Yellowstone

and so 29 begins...

joyful.

And we are His portion, and He is our prize, drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes. If His grace is an ocean we are all sinking. And Heaven meets earth like and unforeseen kiss, and my heart turns violently inside of my chest. I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way, Oh, how He loves us so. Oh how he loves us, Oh how He loves us.