5 Minutes of Joy: Enter His Gates
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. –Psalm 100:4
On Mondays, I take five minutes to write the things that I am thankful for. I say 5 minutes, but maybe that’s just an ideal. (It’s easily can add a few hours to fix all of my typos and round-up pictures!) I make an effort to do this daily, but on Mondays I share! This project has been a HUGE blessing to me! I’m not sure that there’s a better way to start the week! So without further ado, these are gifts that bring me joy:
The faith of friends in hard times, and memories of those along the way that have helped me grow in my own faith. (More on that later. It’s occupying so much of my thoughts and prayers that it really needs to be it’s own post.)
2 Curly heads snuggled under a blanket giggling.
Laughing splashing rosy cheeks in the pool
Letting the house be a horrible mess, and NOt falling to pieces over it, but being present
Brownies
Sunday dresses
Making friends in the larger body of Christ
Summer camp for b with his best friends from school
The rare breed of Friends that don’t see him for his disability, but for what they have in common, for the little boy inside
Family coming
The hope that this stinky-fish-emulsion will help my plants become healthier, that the baking soda will take away all the mildew…
Knowing that whether the plants live or die isn’t crucial to us
That we are able to take our nutrition so much for granted – that we always have food on the table
The excitement over the van having things we need, to make transitions just a little bit easier, because every minute adds up and because the van is just stinking awesome!
Enjoying John as a father
The father that he has become and is becoming
Laughing looking back at all of my silly worries, how trivial they are how God took care of them so easily
Shaving John’s head
Laughing with my husband
Dinner with friends
A friends 4-year-old cuddling with Blue on the couch
Empathy from children that I sometimes would least expect it from… I’m not even sure its empathy it might just be that they see past the disability to who he really is….whatever the case, I’m thankful!
Rabid little artist, scribbling on whatever they can get their hands on
Getting to sit down with John and tell him how awesome it is to see his evolution as a father
My own dad’s love for me. The dates, fishing, baseball in the park
The wonders of shaving cream and dye!
Mess everywhere that can just be hosed down.
Unplanned messy fun that just works out.
Shaving cream beards
Getting my tummy painted in shaving cream
To give you some background: I am NOT the greatest at being PRESENT with my kids. The tyranny of the urgent, and there is a LOT of urgent in our particular specialneedydom, sweeps me away more than it should. (I suspect I’d have the same struggle even if all was typical…it just might not be so much of an uphill battle). So, I fight and pray hard for these moments. Just don’t want you to go thinking I’m a terrific Mom or anything!
a Rearranged Life 