Saturday, December 7, 2013

Moments of Peace & Joy

Besides switching up my regular devotional time for some Advent meditations, I'm also taking a short break from my Gratitude List.  Dawn over at By Sun & Candlelight recently mentioned a practice that she's begun for Advent - that of focusing a thankful heart on one moment of peace and one moment of joy that occur in her day.  Upon reading her post I knew right away that I wanted to make that practice part of my Advent devotionals.  So, in that spirit, here are my Moments of Peace & Joy over the last few days:

12/4/13 -
Moment of Peace:  Walking into our dark bedroom before dawn, seeing the windows covered in patterns of dew and glimpsing a hint of daylight growing in the barnyard.
Moment of Joy:  Finding an old Victoria magazine that I don't have in my collection, waiting for me on my favorite thrift shop's shelf and knowing that He was smiling over my delight.

12/5/13 -
Moment of Peace:  Sitting outside in the yard, totally alone on the farm, harvesting pumpkin seeds from my Jack 'O Lanterns on a quiet, overcast afternoon. 
Moment of Joy:  Ben walking in the door from his volleyball game and handing me a big cup of banana-flavored cocoa that he bought me on the way home - on top of the lid he had written:  "Thanks for cleaning my room."

12/6/13 -
Moment of Peace:  Walking into our warm, bright, cozy home after being out on a cold, dark and rainy night.
Moment of Joy:  When it started "snowing" in the theater at the end of my nephew's Christmas play!


2 comments:

Lori in Texas said...

great idea... i loved this...

julie, I downloaded to kindle a sweet grace livingston hill book "a christmas bride" which I'd never read. I didn't find glh until only just 3-4 yrs ago. my favorite book of hers is the enchanted barn. I think you would like both of these books...

Julie said...

I've been reading GLH for 20 years, whenever the mood strikes. And with your comment, the mood is striking! I had to laugh - The Enchanted Barn is my favorite, too!! I haven't read A Christmas Bride but will keep my eyes out for it. Unfortunately, our library system doesn't carry it. The other thing is that I'm fussy about which versions of her books I'll read. I don't like the little paperwork versions that were re-printed in the '80s and '90s. I hate the size and quality, as well as those lovey-dovey covers! So my eyes are always peeled for the original, plain, hardback editions from the '40s-'60s at used book sales.