Monkeys, Haikus & Joy towards home

Avery gives me great joy

Avery wrote a Target Haiku.  For some reason when he and his mommy go to Target he thinks of me, his Grammy.  I don't know where he got that but I am loving that he does.

The miles between us create a distance that our hearts bridge.  It's hard for this little one to be away from his Grammy, just like it is for me.  

He gets such joy from the simple things like saying Haikus in the Target parking lot as he wants me to be near.

Take a look at this face...who wouldn't want to be near this?

Avery's Target Haiku

"Grammy misses me

It makes her so very sad

I love miss her too"

Avery is destined for greatness in the writing world or maybe just destined to enjoy life. 

While at his house recently, I ripped a page out of his little boy joy journal and took it to heart.  

You know friends, we only have today.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow.  We have hope of Heaven and that gives us our dreams of our eternal destination for sure.   But.... 

But what about today?  

Life of all kinds is looking up at you with some big blue eyes asking, "Will you dance with me?"  And more recently...when asked the question, I am stopping the whatever and pausing to soak in life.

It's not about how many emails I sent or didn't get.  It's not about the likes on Facebook for this blog, it's not about who retweets me because I just said the funniest 140 character quip about beets and bears.

It's about God and experiencing the life that He has given you.  Do you see that He personally serves us joy in so many ways for us?  That's the kind of Father we have that cares enough to not only create us, save us, secure a place in Heaven for us, but cares enough to provide joy around us and for us.

We are more than a number or a IP address.  We are those big-eyed wonders that sit at His knee and ask Him to dance with us.  He longs to give us joy.

I like knowing that I don't have to take a number or write an email to get a reply from God.  He tells me he loves me and cares every day, from the words He has already written.  

So knowing that I am loved gives me joy and I love to give joy and love to this little Target lovin' little man who misses me when I am not near.  May I encourage you today that your joy comes from Jesus and having a thankful perspective helps with the every day mundane, the piles of laundry, the dishes, the dirt, the messes, the spills and chills, the garbage that you find each and every day.  

As you stop and reflect about the life that God has given you today, just pause and thank him for the right things you see right now.  

Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from thanking and praising what's right with God.

See His blessings that hang out in life and want to be swung around the back yard like a monkey.

Need some ideas to get you started in your joy journey?  Take a mission trip to Africa.  Be a friend to someone who is alone.  Be kind to the person that just bit your head off at the gas station.  Let someone go first in traffic.  Be generous with the joy you have received, so much so that it is contagious.

Now that would be a movement to be joyful about.  Be grateful to someone for their kindness.  Compliment the next person you see, even if they irritate you.  

Most days you have to give it before you see God in it. 

It's about the lives God has blessed you with.   Life.  Joy moments like the monkey swings, and daddy's dances don't come often enough.   Experience the joy that God has planned for you today.

Have joy in the journey towards home.