Finding My Joy

                                                      Me: "Oh NO - I lost my joy!!!!
                                                      Bob: "What?"
                                                      Me: "I can't find it - I misplaced my joy!"
                                                      Bob: "What?"
                                                      Me: "You know, the small mixed media collage
                                                               I was working on last night."

And then it hit me - I was talking about misplacing a physical object - a small work of art that I had been working on, but a spiritual message was right there in front of me!

How often have I misplaced my joy? It feels like it's lost, but really it's there, deep down inside, just waiting for me to rediscover it.

Ann Voscamp talks about the word "Eucharisteo," giving thanks. Tucked inside of Eucharisteo is the word Charis, meaning grace. And tucked inside Charis is Char, the root word for Joy. Ann talks about her discovery that Joy is most often found tucked inside Thanksgiving. Reading her work has challenged me to find my joy though moment-by-moment thanksgiving.

Have you misplaced your joy? Take a moment to thank God for the smallest gift of grace in your life - the warmth of the sun on your face, the sticky, chubby hand of a toddler, the rainbow colors in a soap bubble . . . It's in slowing down and staying alert in the moment that we recognize God's everyday gifts. And it's in giving thanks to the Giver of all good gifts that we find our joy.

GIVE - SAVE - SPEND

For Christmas this year, Bob & I decided we would create presents for our 11 grands that would help pass on our values. As a Financial Wellness Coach  Bob is passionate about helping people become wise managers of their resources. We decided to make the kids some "Give - Save- Spend" banks.

At first I thought I'd use old cheese boxes to hold the jelly jars, but they are considered "antiques" now and cost more than we wanted to spend. Who knew?!? 

Sooo . . . . Bob build some long narrow boxes for me, and I sprayed them with a gray prime

I used our printer and made a copy of all their names.

Then I used graphite paper (like carbon paper but not as messy) to trace them on the boxes.

Next I painted their names on and antiqued the  wood. 

I used chalk paint, but acrylics would work great, too.

OK - so 11 kiddos are ALOT! Five Girls and Six Boys

Then I made labels with some of our favorite money verses to put on the inside of the boxes

I bought Jelly jars and got special replacement slotted lids at JoAnn's to turn them into banks.

VOILA!


We did a very short teaching about what Grandpa
believes about money and gave them the banks.
Then we gave them each baggie of  money to put in their jars.

We made some great memories
and passed on some of our values in the process.
SUCCESS!