Yesterday I felt joy as I rearranged the furniture in my bedroom. I know that sounds like kind of a silly thing. But one of my most favorite activities is turning a house into a home. I am sitting on my bed as I write this and feel truly at home. Home has always been a safe place for me and truly a respite from the world. I believe our homes can be some of the most sacred places on earth – for example, the place I pray more than anywhere else in the world is in my bedroom.

Today I felt joy as I cleaned out the refrigerator. Sitting on the top shelf was the Longeneckers’ (John’s parents) corsage and boutonniere from John’s and my wedding. Looking at them reminded me of what a special day that was in our lives.

p.s. In other “joyful” news, the Iowa Hawkeyes are ranked 5th in the nation. I’ve never closely watched or rooted for a college football team, but since I married John things have changed 😉

I am a few days behind in my posts, but I have been thinking a lot about joy lately.

Day 15 was Friday. I had the opportunity to go to a friend’s bridal shower. As I listened to her tell her and her fiance’s love story, I felt joy as I thought about my and John’s story. She talked about how love was more natural feeling and a different feeling than she expected. John is the only guy I’ve ever said “I love you” to. (To all you grammar folks, I am sorry I ended that sentence in a preposition! I am tired…) I remember exactly where we were when I first said it. I too would agree with my friend that love for me was a way more natural and calm feeling than perhaps I anticipated. I felt joy as I drove home from the bridal shower knowing that I was driving home to the one I love (and I was extra excited because he had been gone last week traveling for work).

Day 16 was Saturday. It was a busy and productive day. In the afternoon, we sat down to watch the Iowa game, and I promptly fell asleep. Clearly, the excitement for the game was more than I could handle 😉 When I woke up from the nap, I felt a tad grumpy. I knew what I needed was to go on a walk, and the brisk fall air would take away my moodiness. It was dusk, my favorite time of day, and the weather was truly fall-like. As I walked about listening to my favorite Pandora station (Ben Rector), my heart felt so full of gratitude for all that I have. Sometimes these moments of joy hit me at the most random times and my heart just feels like it’s overflowing. Yesterday, during my walk, was one of those times.

Today I felt joy as I sat around a fire with my parents, sister, and John. We roasted hot dogs, talked, and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather. It was a very nice Sunday, and I really don’t want the weekend to be over 🙂

I know that life isn’t joyful all of the time, and my goal in writing these posts isn’t to make it seem like my life is moment after moment of joy. Rather I am writing about these joyful moments to help me stop and look for joy more fully in my life. I feel like I’ve been living life at too fast of a pace and haven’t stopped to soak in joy. So I am stopping and searching for joy each day.

It’s time to start up again my “100 Moments of Joy” project reflecting on joy for 100 days. I took a hiatus to get married and spend time with my husband… I’m still getting used to saying that 🙂 Before beginning this up again, I wanted to write a blog post on the wedding and express my sincerest appreciation for everyone in our lives who made our wedding experience absolutely wonderful. I am not certain when I’ll get that post complete, so I am relaunching this project today.

Today I felt joy as I walked from the metro to my car. The weather was beautiful, and I felt so thankful for the simplicity and constancy of life right now. I know that life has many ups and downs, and life can change in an instant. I appreciate the moments of steadiness when nothing extraordinary is going on. I am learning to appreciate these moments more and more. I think part of this feeling of joy also stemmed from the fact on the metro ride home, I looked through photos from our wedding day that my family posted in a shared album. The one below particularly warmed my heart!