Finding the Joy

The Bible Study I am a part of is doing a book study on Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts. Although it is not necessary to read the book to do the study, I have been slowly reading through the book. Slowly, because I somehow find a million other things to do in a day, even though I love reading. Slowly, because she has a unique writing style that I sometimes get lost in and find myself reading the same paragraph several times. Slowly, because her thoughts have been piercing my heart and I am trying to let them sink in deeply.
Her main idea is that by giving thanks to God for the little things, we find deep joy. I have been hesitant to start my own list of 1,000 gifts because I hate buying into hype and fads and "everyone is doing it" type things (although I do now own that wonderful book on tidying up). If I am completely honest, I would also say I have been struggling with joy lately and my stubborn self doesn't want to admit that by listing out the little things I am thankful for in life I might actually pull myself up by the boot straps, so to speak. It can't be that simple. I'm not struggling that much with joy, right? Sometimes I feel like Sadness in "Inside Out"- Crying helps me slow down and obsess over the weight of life's problems. Honestly, I don't want to admit that I am wrong and may need to make an attitude adjustment.

But today, after we fought through sickness for the second time in a row while trying to enjoy vacation (special time planned with family). And when my husband was called to work on a day we thought we would have together (when your the one on call, you can't really ignore it). And as I sat processing once again through the life changes we've had over the last year, I decided that I needed that list of joy. I need to record my thankfulness to keep my spirits up and to keep some perspective.

So here is the start of my list of 1,000 things I am thankful for:

1. laughter over pulling out all of the blocks and books
2. watching the baby bounce and giggle to music
3. the look of pride in a one-year-old's eyes when she pulls herself up on something new
4. enough food that we have choices for dinner
5. candlelight
6. the look of joy in her eyes when she sees her Papa
7. her attempt to copy us and wipe off her own highchair tray 
8. droopy eyes at bedtime nursing
9. sleepy cuddles
10. encouraging emails from friends
11. laundry folded and put away
12. lunch packed for the next day
13. dishes done by a loving husband