My Quest for a Joyful Life

When I was a little girl I had this picture perfect idea of how my life would turn out. First it was college; I would get a degree and find a job that was satisfying and totally devoted to the lives of others. I wanted to write. I wanted people to find a friend within the pages. After college I would get married and have wonderfully perfect children that did everything I said and we would be a family that was the envy of the block. The picture I painted for my life ended up with a few extra strokes of the brush I hadn’t plan. I ended up getting married just after my first year of college. My husband and I were not alone as we started out life together, our daughter Melia had been born eight months before our wedding. Three years later we ended up with two more little blessings (less than two years apart).

So in just a few short years my direction of life had to change. I was determined to finish my degree and so I decided to juggle being a wife, mother and student. My life became extremely chaotic. I found myself changing diapers, cooking, cleaning, cuddling, giving baths, providing nap times while also trying desperately to finish homework assignments and attending classes. I ended up stressed and unhappy. One afternoon I found myself steaming mad, nothing was getting done. The laundry was still pilled high (so were the dishes), I could smell a rotten stench coming from my daughters diaper, crushed cereal was sticking to my feet, the essay due tomorrow was still not done, and my hubby would be home soon expecting dinner. I snapped and ended up yelling at my children, something I told myself I would never do. Sitting down I told myself this is not the way it should be (more importantly this is not the way God wanted it to be) so I made the decision to find joy when and wherever I could, I would live joyfully. I would take every day slowly telling myself if that load of laundry didn’t get done because my girls wanted a book read to them, so be it! And so through this blog I will be posting where joy can be found. Now I can’t guarantee I will have a post every week. But I will as often as I can. I will start in a few days. When I will tell you the thing that keeps me joyful, even when I have found crushed cereal in the carpet I just vacuumed or when I receive a quiz with a big fat D on the top. It’s the only kind of joy that last a life time (and beyond)…so keep in touch.