Surprised by Joy!

I'm still, very slowly reading Ann Voskamp's book "0ne Thousand Gifts."

Her chapter, "Go Lower," is so beautifully written.

"Surprised by joy!"

C.S. Lewis, she writes, was 'surprised by joy.'

She writes of the sheer joy and delight of a small child

~ through the example of her youngest child ~

You can search the world over, Ann writes, and find joy LIKE THAT only in a child.

"The secret to a child's language of laughter, their domain of delight, is perspective. "

"The heights of our joy are measured by the depths of our gratitude."

May we find the greatest joys in the small and simple things ~ discovering that gratitude precedes the miracles!

Wishing you many beautiful days ahead ~ sprinkled with ...

Showers of grace and blessings for you dear friends and family,

~ Maria

Quotes from "One Thousand Gifts" by Ann Voskamp

Photo of my oldest ~ Amanda, when she was very small 

peace

 "Lifelong prayer brings peace to your lion's den."

 via

Last week, the associate pastor of the church we attend, spoke those words.

Those words settled deep in my soul.

I needed to hear them.

We all have our own lion's dens.

This summer, I looked into the "eyes" of the three overstuffed bedrooms

where my children stayed... as little ones and as adults...

With Chris' help and God's daily offering of Grace

we brought peace to that lion's den that seemed so daunting.

Ahhh Peace!

Another lion's den I face is what has become of my profession.

The jaws of government wait.

The evaluations will be impersonal and litigious.

It's easy to feel like a small animal who spends unimaginable time and effort

trying to avoid becoming prey...

* instead *

via

 I will pray every day for my school, colleagues and students

and bring PEACE

to this lion's den.

...just had to share this with you, my friends and family ♥

busy as a bee

Hello!

Just stopping by my little blog to show you some of the

work we've been doing and the progress we've made.

~

Amanda's old room went from "teen dream"

to "woodland white."

{a Benjamin Moore color} 

My sewing room went from "industrial"  

{no before photo, but imagine three base cabinets with a countertop that went the width of the room
and a twin bed on the other side with a tray-table night stand} 

...to a sweet and cottage*y place to dream and sew...

I searched this spring for vintage dressers and really enjoyed the transformation process!

I'll post my before and afters soon.

 We've been cleaning out closets and sorting through lots of things that belong to our children.

It brought back memories to find things like

Pokeman cards {Jason's closet}

and NSYNC concert photos {girls' closet}!

Yes, deep cleaning, fresh paint and organizing was long overdue!

I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

We will be painting the hallway and stairwell next week.

Amanda has long been on her own and is now enjoying some sparkling times of her own!

 {Taken by Amanda earlier this week in Cape Sebastian, Oregon}

~

It is nice "to be back" in blogland this morning!

~ I'll be visiting you all soon ~

God bless you always,

Wishing you much summer JOY!

{Enjoy more summertime joys at Sky Watch Friday!}