Joyfull Living

 Friday favorites cause me to pause and look back on the week and pay attention to the blessings God brought. It is so easy to move so quickly from one day to the next oblivious to how good God has been. This week found us on the road to 2 routine doctor visits, each over an hour away. It shuffled our work schedules and several times through week, we had to pause and reflect what day it was! Friday arrived and I attended an early morning fitness class. Mornings are my favorite time of the day and sunrises always bring joy to my heart. When class was over, we observed a beautiful sunrise and took advantage of a fun photo opportunity!  Driving home, the sunrise was spectacular from the different angles. Pondering the beauty, I realized that clouds make a sunrise more glorious. Pure blue sky and bright sun are beautiful, but sprinkle some clouds in and the colors become more vivid and unique. In our lives, every day is not a bright sunshiny day. There are cloudy days, rainy days,...

The week of June 9 - June 17, 1989 is a week forever etched in my story. It is where I experienced my greatest loss as well as the greatest gain in my life. Looking back even now, 34 years later, the variance of emotions from mourning to hope in the span of a few days still astounds me. But it is a story of God's grace that alone can bring tragedy to triumph.  The circumstances surrounded 2 of the most powerful influences in my life - my father and my husband. June 9, my father was tragically killed. Although I never doubted for a moment of his love for me, my father made some devastating life choices that brought painful consequences to his family. He gave me a lifetime of fatherly advice, but set an example before me of a path I would take great strides to avoid. Choosing a lifestyle of sin and darkness can quickly escalate and overtake ones life. Priorities, habits, relationships can be left behind to follow the irresistible call of addiction. As Father's Day weekend is appr...

  A trip to the mountains makes fall come alive for me! The area we live in doesn't provide much change of the seasons through weather or scenery. I do my best to bring on the fall atmosphere in my home through scent, sight and taste, but my efforts only go so far. We just returned from a trip where fall was truly experienced! A log cabin on the banks of a river, streets lined with the beauty of brightly colored changing leaves, walks along a lake, mountain drives and fresh, cool air. This is what fall looks like! It brings life to the soul! Today is November 1 - and this month brings a beauty all its own - the beauty of  Gratitude.  Like my fall mountain experience, November truly captures a spirit of gratitude as we turn our minds and plans towards the Thanksgiving holiday. Gratitude is a mind shift that moves us to thankfulness. We are reminded and think on the blessings we have and thank God for all His goodness to us. Here are a few benefits that gratitude brings Gra...

 This weekend, my social media feed was filled with beautiful pictures of my friends and their daughters. Sweet smiles, gushing words full of emotion and love and an overload of sweetness. Turns out it was National Daughters Day.   Our family was blessed with 3 sons and we don't have a clue about a home filled with ruffles, frills or dainty things. Our home was loud, fast and active!  So today is National Son's Day, and I was ready to share a post of my boys!  Each of our boys are now adults, living away from home and making a life for themselves. We couldn't be more proud of the men they have become. National Son's Day gave an opportunity to reflect back on the days when they were young and the wonderful memories I cherish. The sweet baby boy years where they loved to snuggle. The childhood years where we cheered them on at the ball field, the teenage years where they kept a mama on her knees in prayer. Now as men they are responsible, self reliant and making t...

 There is something so pure and beautiful about a wedding. Everything is new, crisp, clean and at its best. The bride's dress has been purposefully chosen, correctly sized and finally able to be revealed in all its glory. The groom looks dashing in his tux, the attendants coordinate and everyone has hair and make up applied so they look their absolute best.  Once the wedding ceremony has passed, true life begins. There is beauty in newness, a new home, new priorities, the freshness of the newlywed season. Eventually, all the newness rubs off and who we are and who we married becomes our reality! During this critical point, our vows and covenant to love one another hold us accountable to continue to build a life together.  But as the newness wears off and the commitment takes hold, something beautiful happens. Our lives are now well merged into one, our daily plans and schedule are made with consideration of our mate. We have a soul mate who knows us better than anyone els...

  Happy Friday! I am participating in Five Minute Friday which is a fast, fun opportunity to strengthen my writing skills. A word prompt is given and you are encouraged to write for five minutes on a specific topic. Today's word is STRONG.   Strong is a powerful word to speak, but is much harder to put action into. The journey to strong usually begins with weakness - an area that needs improvement or to be strengthened. Becoming stronger can be a process or a journey, often filled with challenges that in the end, make us better.  Recently, my husband and I took a quick trip to the Georgia mountains. 2 of our sons are currently in Georgia, so we enjoyed a visit with them and then headed for a quick empty nest trip to the mountains.  One of our favorite things to do is to take walks on the mountain trails. There is something so calming about the mountain air, leaves and streams. We took off on a trail that would lead to a waterfall. There was only one sign at the begi...

 Hello June and Welcome Summer! As the summer season begins, our lives begin to embrace fun, relaxed activities such as swimming, cook outs and lots of outside time. June also holds some dates that are very emotional for our family - ones that represent the passing of one life and embracing of a new life. This June will find sweet hubby and I celebrating 32 years of marriage!  What a divine gift of God that came in His perfect timing. In the same year, 8 days before the wedding, my father was tragically killed. Our family gathered for a funeral and a wedding in the same week. Life can be like that, holding pain and joy in the same hand, but always being balanced with the gift of God's grace. As a Christian, I believe pain and grief comes from the result of living in an evil world. God does not cause the events that bring pain, but through the process of grief, we can find hope, wholeness and healing. And our stories from the other side of grief can be used to walk with others ...

This weekend is Mother's Day and you have probably noticed an abundance of beautiful items that grace the entrance to the stores we visit. Cards, mugs, flowers, beautiful signs, all gifts that express to moms the special role they play in our lives.  Today's Five Minute Friday writing prompt is "She".   A very simple, yet appropriate topic for this Friday! Christians moms during this time of the year often reflect on the biblical passage of Proverbs 31. In its context, it is a mother writing to her son - a king - about the virtues of a wife that he should be seeking for. Every mother with sons has that same desire, for him to find a wife filled with virtue and honor.  As the Bible often does, it reflects a question or pondering that reflects back to ourselves. In the Proverbs 31 passage, we tend to examine our life based on these qualities and may find we come up lacking! This is not the description of an unattainable, perfect woman, but qualities that all women shou...

For Five Minute Friday the word prompt is "Sunrise" .  This is my favorite time of the day and I've written numerous posts on the wonder and beauty of this daily gift from God. This post immediately came to mind to share for today's FMF. I can still feel the anticipation of catching sunrise at the beach!  August - 2016 Although the beach is always beautiful, my favorite time of the day there is sunrise. To see the sun breaking over the ocean is truly a sight to behold.  On a recent beach trip, we spent 3 mornings going for an early morning walk on the beach. On the first morning, the sun was already up in the sky.  It was pretty, but we decided to go a little earlier the next morning to try and catch a better view of the rising sun. On Day 2 the sun wasn't too high, but had already broken.  It was beautiful and peaceful to see, but we knew there was a moment of the morning that we were missing.  Day 3, we hit it just right.  As we walked to t...

Our Christmas traditions have been changed and perfected through the years.  They have seen us through being a family with young children, spending the entire Christmas day visiting our families in a variety of places. That was when we were young and had tons of energy!  As we began to put our own roots down, we spent more time at home but balanced huge meals between sweet hubby's side of the family as well as time with my side of the family. We would overload on food and family, still trying to cram it all into one day. Finally, a Christmas compromise was made which fit us well for many years. Christmas Eve was spent with sweet hubby's family - a large, loud and fun gathering and Christmas Night, I cooked dinner for my side of the family, which is much smaller, but filled with cozy fellowship. This Christmas, due to sickness on both sides of our families, the Christmas gatherings were cancelled. No large annual fellowship with all the in-laws, no warm, intimate dinner with mi...

Can you believe it's Christmas Eve? This is a night usually filled with family traditions and time spent with loved ones. It is a night that stirs up childhood memories and spurs us to eagerly make new traditions in our families. For the majority of us, this Christmas Eve will look much different than in the past. Many families have been affected by the pandemic of 2020. There may be grief at a loss in our family, or a sickness that keeps some away from our celebrations. Or simply caution, that keeps our gatherings from being what they once were. Whatever the reason, this Christmas looks and feels much different.  My first thoughts when realizing our family Christmas would be different this year were disappointment and sorrow. If there is anything stable through the year, it is Christmas! With a loved one sick and in the hospital and others staying home to protect themselves, we must adapt to not being together, which is heartbreaking. It just doesn't feel like Christmas when w...

There was a phone call that needed to be made and I had been putting it off all day.  A church friend from many years ago had passed away. I was a young mother, she was older, more experienced and a gal who was full of life! She was bold, outspoken, passionate and lots of fun. We weren't exceptionally close, but she had a fierce love for anyone she knew. Our paths grew apart, but her family always held a special part in our life with fond memories of days gone by. The phone call was to be made to her son, one I had not seen in over 20 years. Would he remember who I was, he was just a young man when I last saw him. The call was placed and as I identified myself, he greeted me by name warmly. A beautiful conversation flowed filled with memories and sharing of his mother's influence on many.  He did remember our family and shared fond memories of families in the church who meant much to him.  While we caught up from the years, he shared that in his grief, he found his mother...

When fall is in full swing, you have a little time off from work, the empty nest affords more freedom and the mountains call you name.....you simply GO! A spur of the moment trip to the mountains turned out to be one of the best trips we have taken.  Usually our mountain trips are efficiently planned out, the dates set in advance, a cabin reserved with the location and destinations in mind.  This trip, we saw we had some available time and simply headed north! Our first stop was to visit some dear friends who were vacationing that week. The next day we continued our drive still unclear on where we would land.  Here is our first stop, the quaint town of Helen, Georgia. Through the years we have made many visits to the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. We have visited a variety of locations, hiked many trails, drove many miles simply gazing at the beauty found there.  Cherished memories have been made with our children and family.  This trip we didn't do ...