My 100 Joys

Sarah Markley began posting 100 Joys on her blog a week or so ago. She invited bloggers to participate. I originally thought I wouldn't...mainly because it will require a lot of time and attention over the next few weeks. But after reading about so much sadness (death, trauma, broken relationships, etc) on Facebook, I have decided to look for the joy in my own life.

I'll begin by recapping the joys of this past weekend:

1 - My husband enters his business into our local Christmas parades. We spent Friday night decorating his trailer to look like the North Pole. The girls were so excited to help wrap empty boxes to look like gifts and apply fake snow to the little trees. It does my heart good to see them excited about little things.

2 - We participated as a family in the Alabaster parade on Saturday morning. It was so fun to throw candy to the crowds of people along the road. The best part was near the end. So many floats had run out of candy, so when we were able to throw some to the kids who didn't have any, their faces would light up! Isn't it great what one little piece of candy can do for a child?!

3 - I walked in the Helena parade with my youngest daughter's dance studio on Saturday afternoon. Even though I'd forgotten to try her shoes on her before the parade, and they were too tight, she still marched right along, keeping up with her routine. It was such a delight to watch her sweet little face. She was so proud of herself, and was determined to march all they way to the end, even though her little feet were hurting.

4 - I have to throw this one in: Auburn won the SEC championship game! I'm not a huge football fan, but I really like Cam Newton and Gene Chizik. I was glad to see them win!

5 - I normally don't sing in the 8 a.m. service at church, but I did yesterday. I found a lot of joy watching the faces of the congregation that I don't normally get to see. And...we sang Christmas music!! Yay!!

6 - My pastor announced that our church's theme for 2011 is going to be Grace. I am so excited. I can't wait to hear and see what all that will involve. I've learned more about grace in the past two years than I ever knew. I'm so looking forward to Grace in 2011!!

7 - I watched my sweet Emma in her first play, "You Can't Cancel Christmas." I held my breath, and was saying her lines in my head. She gave a beautiful performance. And I think she's now addicted...she wants to be in another play! I love it!

8 - Mark and I were able to have a mini-date last night. The girls were scattered, so we took advantage of the few hours to do some Christmas shopping and have a quick dinner. We don't get much time alone lately, so we took what we could get and had a good time.

Stay tuned for 9-100 over the next few weeks!