Joy Dare 2013 - Day 44

3 Gifts Behind a Door

I kept things pretty generic and simple.
But generic and simple gifts shouldn't be overlooked because they're generic and simple, right?

1. The food we have behind our refrigerator door.
We are never hungry. Honestly we probably eat too much and throw away too many leftovers.

2. 2 working vehicles behind our garage door.
They may be old and have lots of miles, but they work and are paid off.
The garage door is a huge gift too! So thankful that we have a 2 car garage and I don't have to scrape my windows every morning in the winter!

3. The clothes and shoes behind our closet doors.
I don't think that needs any explanation.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 43

3 Hard Eucharisteos

I had a hard time coming up with 3 of these because our lives have by no means been hard. We haven't suffered great loss or heartbreak. We are healthy and provided for and happy. Our kids are cute and fun and smart and my husband loves his job. There are times we have struggled and wondered and cried about things. So from those moments I choose my 3 "Hard" Eucharisteos recognizing that by many other's standards these would not be considered "hard" at all.

1. The 3 year long wait to sell our house.
This could be a whole post in and of itself. But for right now I'll keep in short.
3 years is a wholeheckuva long time to wait. It was definitely hard. Feeling like God was silent, or ignoring, or indifferent was hard. But thankfully we know that He was none of those things. We might not have heard Him because our ears weren't tuned in to Him correctly.
But He was definitely working.
And molding.
And teaching.
And pruning.
And moving.
Thank God for the 3 year lesson.

2. Anna's bully incident
Yet another story that could be longer. And I promise to write about this one in length later because it is just too good of a blessing not to share.
Anna was recently bullied at school. And while in the moment it was hard, to see how God worked in her and through her was nothing less than amazing.
God is SO very good to us.

3. Ty's arrival
The week long stay in the hospital at 33.5 weeks followed by a week of bedrest at home only to have to schedule an induction 5 weeks later to encourage his birth.
The unexpected (short) stay in the NICU for our 9 lb. 11 oz. chunker because he was born asleep (dangerously low blood sugar).
The immediate signs of reflux at only a few hours old.
The Upper GI to officially diagnose the reflux (where the radiologist said he had never seen a baby reflux that quickly) and then the various combination of meds until we could find the right one that afforded the poor baby a restful nights sleep.
I was one tired and emotional Mama, but praising God for my sweet boy.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 42

3 Gifts in Working

Because I have 3 "jobs" I thought I'd pick one gift from each of them.

1. Using my college degree
Honestly, when I got my bachelor's degree I chose it because it was the fastest course for me to complete. I was working full time and had an idea that we were about to start a family. I didn't want to be in school for another 3-4 years (I had already done 2 years for my associates degree) so I chose the adult program degree completion program. I could put most of my credits toward a B.S. in Organizational Management and be done in 18 months. 6 months into the program I was glad I chose that option when I found out my first baby would arrive 3 months before I was done.
I always wondered what I would do with an Organizational Management degree.
Thankfully God knew and He had a plan all along.
Although I only work 5-10 hours per week, that degree prepared me for my job with The Crossing. It's exciting to use what I've learned and enjoy doing it.

2. Creativity that pays
About a year and a half ago I started dabbling in a little bit of graphic design. It was more for myself than anything. But as I created more, persistent family members encouraged me to open up a shop on etsy.com to try and sell what I made. It was simple enough to do so I did. And thankfully so as my little side job brings in some extra cash each month.

3. Lunch with my kids
Because I work from home and at home, I have the flexibility to go in and have lunch with my kids on occasion. I really enjoy getting to know my kids' friends and watching them interact. It is a gift to have the ability to do this.

Joy Dare 2013 - Day 41

3 Times You Heard Laughter Today

1. In my Sunday School class
I teach the PreK/K class at church every Sunday. Typically my class is made up of 4 boys. What a joy. I love hearing their laughter as they play together!

2. During Church
Our church is blessed with a wonderful pastor/teacher. He teaches straight from the Word. Currently he is doing a series on the book of Romans. It never fails that he will make us laugh every Sunday morning. And always more than once.

3. In our Small Group
We started a new small group tonight. We host it in our home. I really enjoy having people over and especially this time since we have 4 new people in our group that I've never gotten a chance to hang out with. I knew our group was a good mix when there was plenty of laughter tonight. What a blessing.