Get Fit Friday - 100 Day Challenge - Week 10

30 days to Go!

Thursday Thoughts on... Joy

Can I be real for a moment?

What a silly question. I mean what are you gonna do, say no?

I've been thinking a lot about Joy and what it means. I have missed what it is, but have been made painfully aware of what it is not.

Joy is not pain. It doesn't keep company with lies or deceit. Joy isn't found in secret and it isn't private or hidden. Joy is not found in selfishness or in manipulation. Joy is not some mystery we have to figure out.  Joy is not found in the company of sin.

Joy is arms wide open, face to the sky, soaking up gentle fall sunshine while the cool breeze envelopes my body in a refreshing hug.

Joy is holding my sweet great-niece and seeing my sister and my niece in her precious newborn face.

Joy is full and free and all-in... with no reservations or fear.

Joy is thankfulness for what GOD has given and nothing more.

Joy is... light and freedom and beauty and friendship and love and trust and faithfulness.

Joy is trusting that God knows what he's doing and that He SEES me, KNOWS me, and still LOVES me more than I could ever love myself.

Joy is not dependent on my bank account, feeling significant or validated, on my health or the health of those I love.  Joy is a gift in the midst of the most soul crushing circumstances.

Joy is knowing... KNOWING... that, when I lay my head down at night, the Creator of the Universe sees me and knows my heart. He knows every fear, every frustration, every funky thing that puts a glitch in my day...he KNOWS. Beyond that,  I can trust HIM to work it all out, in His time, in His way, and I can be assured that His way will bring HIM glory.  What a privilege to be allowed to be used by Him and be part of His story!

Well whaddya know.. I guess I do have an idea of what Joy is. Go  figure.

It is too easy to allow Satan to deceive us into thinking that God is holding out on us. It is all too easy to allow Satan to weave a web of deceit. He is a liar and a thief. The is NO goodness in him.  I must remind myself of this... and you should too. Any shiny object he offers has deadly strings attached. What he offers to fulfill you WILL bleed you dry. It will. There are no exceptions.

Joy and sin do not cohabitate. They cannot both take up residence in your soul. It took much too long for me to understand this.

I choose Joy.

Much love and big big hugs!
K

Tuesday's Tips and Tricks - Celebrating (not surviving) the Holiday Season - The Gifts

Here we are a week away from the end of October. See how fast time gets away?!?!?!

GOODNESS!

It's okay tho. We have made some serious progress in the whole Preparing for the Holiday Season Process!

We've made a plan - we know WHAT we want to do.

We've update the Christmas Card List

We've made a Gift List

Now, this week, I want you to take that Gift list out and make some decisions....

How are you going to split up your budget?

You can start with the people closest to you or farthest from you, but whether you work from the inside out or outside in, start and work your way from one to the other. 

I just realized that I cant really tell you how to split up your budget. 

Instead, I'll share some ideas on how my family and close friends have worked through gift-giving over the years.

As my cousins and siblings added a generation to our family, we realized that we needed to change the whole "gift giving" norm. 

For kids old enough, my favorite gift is a silly string war. All I do is go to the dollar store and buy as much silly string as I can. I may spend 30 bucks on 30 cans of silly string. I put all the cans in a box and, when the time is right, we take all the caps off the cans. The kids start with 2 cans each and replenish as they run out. They do this until all the string is gone. Bonus... the kids have a great time. The older kids gang up on the littles. The littles gang up on a specific older kid... and sometimes the unsuspecting adult. They are left with lots of "remember that time" memories.  Mission accomplished.

For the itty bitties who are too young to appreciate a good Silly String War, I get some little something... usually that lights up or otherwise mesmerizes them and keeps them from feeling left out.

Another great idea... Cookie decorating or Gingerbread house decorating. This can be a contest  if that's your thing. 

Moving on to others... my favorite gifts from coworkers have turned out to be Christmas ornaments. Who knew? These can be store bought or home made and range anywhere from $1 ro well... whatever. the point is, when I put up my tree each year I have wonderful memories attached to almost all my ornaments. 

Bonus... Izzy and I make an ornament most years ( I wish I could say "every year") and this doubles the joy for me. Not only do we gift ornaments that will remind people of our friendship over the years, it is a wonderful time for me to spend with my best most favorite girl. 

Finally, I have friends who give edible gifts. One friend makes amazing peanut (and pecan and almond) brittle and we ALL look forward to getting some each year.

Anyway, as you break down your gift giving list, remember that sometimes the best gift you can give is a memory. Over the years, I have started leaning more toward giving memories instead of  gifts. I have not regretted it even once. 

Big Hugs!

K