I was reading a blog the other day that got me thinking about something. The author was talking about the tendency, in the realm of mommy bloggers, to 'fake it'. The jist of it was that there is a lot of blogging that goes on where people create the impression that they are living perfect little lives on the other side of their monitors. The author was making a plea to other bloggers to be more real and to stop putting on a facade.
It got me thinking about what kind of impression might be left here, as I delve into Project Joy and start making weekly posts. It left me wanting to make a bit of a disclaimer - I am not PERFECT, nor is my family or life! There is whining, complaining, fighting, kicking, hitting, yelling, repeated disobedience, messy floors, dusty dressers - I could go on and on! We don't have it all figured out any more than the rest of you.
At the heart of Project Joy is this:
"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phillipians 4:8
I am fully convinced that the more time and energy I focus on the praiseworthy things in my life, the more JOY there will be for myself and for those around me. I also believe it is pleasing to God when I choose to focus on the blessings and give praise, no matter what the circumstances.
I hope you will find JOY in following along this year and celebrating with me and my family and the things, big and small, that fill our lives with JOY. I love sharing with you and also love hearing what you are up to!
I will leave you with a couple photos that brought me joy yesterday. It came to my attention in the last couple of months that both my daughter and my dog have an attachment to blankie bears. They both like to sleep with them, play with them and they both chew the ears on them. Yesterday, I captured them both napping with their little buddies. Aren't they sweet???
Have a blessed day!
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Christy! I am so with you! It takes every ounce of energy not to snap everything I see just because I want to document everything. I've decided not to include the "where is the mess in my house right now" picture because it will always be the same place (my office.) That's because hubby is a neat freak and even my messy office isn't that messy. But I do want to capture the good as well as the not so good. For instance, Kalyssa was home sick today so I snapped a picture of her curled up on the couch. I think this is almost going to be a journal of sorts for me. I'm really excited to see how it all looks as we move through the year.
ReplyDeleteSome of our pictures for this week include the snow outside (it usually doesn't stick around this long), playing Sorry as a family, my exercise shoes/equipment, Kalyssa sick day, etc. I plan to take a picture of Kaden in his underpants tomorrow because the one this that brought me joy this week (that I choose to document, at least, there were lots of joyful moments but those could easily become repetitive) is that he's been completely dry twice this week. This is a huge accomplishment for him because he couldn't care less about having wet pants. Potty training has been a loooong process with that one!
Thanks for starting this up Christy! It's been very fun and inspiring for me. I find myself making an effort to see the joy in everything. Some moments I have to stop and remember that's what I need to do. It's a work in progress but I'm really enJOYing the process!
I agree with you Christy!!!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that most of our blog post are happy doesn't mean that we don't have crazy, bad, yelling, messy (etc) things in our lifes... it's just that some of us have make a promess (sort of) to ourselves of praising the good and focus on that... and I rather write about happy things... I have written about sad and bad things too, but when I'm down I don't feel like blogging, which is totally the opposite when I'm happy and full of projects and energy...
I am also following your idea of just enjoying and not suffer if I want to put more than one picture of the same day...
I can't wait to get it rolling!
Love, Shanti
Shari - I'm glad I'm not the only over anxious one! LOL! It puts a huge smile on my face when I read your posts. :D
ReplyDeleteShanti - I'm glad you are excited and inspired as well! Thanks for the note!
I love your post and wish you all the best on your journey thru project Joy. On my blog I have chosen to post mostly the positives that happen in my world. I have been told not to post anything negative so I don't get people feeling sorry for me. So as much as my world may seem perfect we are far from it. I don't fake anything I post. I will be following your blog so I can see all the Joy that this yr brings you.
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