I have been thinking a lot over the past couple of days (since school is out for Christmas Break). I've been thinking about my family and about what I have and about what I've done and I have come to realize that I do have joy, I just don't think about it.I tend to focus on the negative(and goodness knows there is enough of that) instead of the positive.

I have three beautiful daughters.

Maddie is 13 and growing up in her own individual way, she always marches to the beat of her own drummer. She is unique and confident in her uniqueness. She doesn't care what people think about her, she is comfortable in her own skin. She is creative and intelligent. She's an honor roll student and is fiercely loyal to her friends and family.

Alana is 7 and she is the sweetest little thing. She is a helper. She wants to help everyone (except maybe helping her sisters clean up). She is my mini-me. She wants to be like me (at least right now she does). She loves order. She is compassionate and friendly. She is studious and loves school. She is an artist. She loves taking pictures.She has a beautiful smile that absolutely lights up the room that she is in.

Seanna is 4 and is my adventurer. Every day is a new experience. Whether it is exploring the back yard or woods or creating a master piece of art on the wall when we aren't looking, she is always active, always creating. She is also an artist. She loves to draw (on everything including herself). She is creative, she drew on herself this week and said it was Indian War Paint. She has JOY in everything from the snow that fell earlier this week to putting up the Christmas tree to cuddling with me. She loves and trusts in an uninhibited way.

I have a wonderful husband.

Yes, Kirby is wonderful although he drives me craze sometimes. I take him for grated sometimes. He stopped going to college so I could finish and then he stays at home so our children can have someone at home to get them to school and is there when they come home. He is there to take care of Seanna while I'm working. He has a ministry that helps people who are typically rejected by the typical church and he has an online ministry that reaches out to the unsaved on the world wide web. True, he doesn't usually do what I ask him to do while I'm at school like tidying up and washing clothes but he does try to remember to do that occasionally.

I have a wonderful life.

I have clothes on my back, a roof over my head, a car that mostly works even though it is 10 years old and has a few dents. I have a job that I like and a coaching assignment that I LOVE! I have my family at home and my family at school with all 70 kids that I currently teach (with 70 more next semester).

Most importantly, I have a Lord that loved me enough to die for my sins and open up heaven to me so that I may have eternal life and joy.

Circumstances may be hard and try to steal my joy. There is not enough money to go around and I worry about things that are both within and outside of my control. I worry that my house will never be fully cleaned and organized. BUT I have joy in my heart and peace in the fact that God loves me and looks out for me and is there for me in both good times and bad.

Be JOYFUL!