It's all in the little things ...

I love this verse:  "Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious - the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."  (Philippians 4:8, The Message.)

Isn't it so easy to focus on the hard/bad/ugly things?  In this season of sickness, holiday weird-ness, dark-comes-too-early (darn that daylight savings time), and helping dear friends to carry enormous burdens that frankly seem impossible to bear, I've found myself "litanizing" (thanks Lisa for the new word - I love it) the negatives.  And in the process, failing to even notice the positives, let alone fill my mind with them. 

I've often recommended to others that they keep a "joy journal" - some sort of written record of the beautiful, good, life-giving things that happen on any given day.  So here's a few of the things that gave me joy in the past few days.

Finding the perfect Christmas gift for Lexi, online, for a great price and without having to leave my recliner!

Pumpkin spice candle - the next best thing to baking something yummy.

Rotel for dinner.  One of many pleasures of an empty nest.

Walking upstairs and finding my bed made.

Discovering an old and beautiful treasure in my Christmas boxes.

Hearing the garage door go up unexpectedly in the middle of the day and having my husband walk in just to hang out with me for a few minutes.

OK no laughing at this one ... but this is the recycling bin that was delivered this week.  My left brain is working overtime as I'm sorting what can go in, what has to go into the regular trash bin, and how much our actual trash output will be decreased by the addition of this beauty to our garage.  I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Probably none of these things are "compelling," noble" or "gracious."  But it feels good to fill my mind with the happy little things instead of the big unhappy ones - what brought you joy today?