Finding Joy on the Homestead

I've been thinking about Joy lately…

What does it mean?

Where can I  find it?

 What does it looks like in my life.?

 I think the Joy that I have found in my life may look a bit different than the Joy in your life.  And perhaps this is why Joy seems to be so mysterious to me.

Babies and puppies......Joy!!!

I know that all good things come from God.  (James 1:17) 

But I also think that sometimes, we can miss the good things He has in store for us because we are so focused on the busyness and trials of this life. 

We live life in an unconscious state! 

To say the least, life can be hard. 

It can be difficult.

Watching my man enjoying work around
the homestead gives me joy!

 We often times make bad decisions that come back to bite us. 

 Other people make decisions that impact us-badly. 

 Accident and illness come our way.  

We have to work endlessly (sometimes at a job we hate) to pay the bills. 

 There are rules and regulations, responsibilities and commitments at every turn.  Strife and conflict seem to surface at every turn….

I am happy to say that I am enJOYing 9 years of
recovery!

  Let’s face it, just getting through day to day is HARD WORK!  

And life may just leave you asking the question,

JOY……..WHAT JOY!

Chickens.....JOY!

BUT joy is out there my friend.

It doesn't knock at your door.

The summer landscape.....Joy!

It often hides in the small, insignificant moments of life. 

It can frequently be found when and where you least expect it!

Often times though

Joy can be missed.

A good friend......JOY!

When we are focused on the hurts of yesterday

And the worries of tomorrow

We miss it. 

A new head of Hair.....Joy!

Now I’m not saying don’t learn from the past, or plan for the future.

But I am saying that sometimes we just have to

LIVE IN THE MOMENT….

Watching father and son.....Joy!

Hanging with the grandbabies......Pure Joy!

LOOK FOR JOY IN THE SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT MOMENTS OF LIFE. 

Holding a new grand child for the
first time just leaves you speechless......JOY!!

Perhaps we need to be more Child-like!

These little morsels of joy can refresh us so we are better able to cope with the storms of life when they arrive. 

They are like little winks from God. 

They are a reminder that He is there….

even the smallest and simplest moments of life.

 As I scroll through the pages and pictures contained in this blog, I am reminded of how BLESSED I am, because in my life, even a midst the trials of life...

I have a joy-filled life.

And for that I'm thankful to God above-

The Giver of all good things.

How about you....

Are you blessed....

Can you find the joy that is hidden in the corners of your busy and sometimes frantic life??   I'd love to hear about it!!

Living Simply and deliberately...

Keeping my eyes open looking for JOY...

Tammy

Enjoy some more snippets of the things that bring me joy from around our little homestead!

All things Home grown and Home made

Home keeping and redecorating

Playing with my grandkids

Jack loves to play train  (and so do I:)

Aww, the smiles.....JOY!

Sharing my faith with the grand babies..JOY!

Crafting

I love card making....but most of all, I enjoy
blessing others with a homemade card

Creating treasure from trash gives me great JOY!
(a brooch made from soda cans)

Cooking with the sous-chefs

Enjoying the camaraderie of my Y friends

Miss Josie brings me much joy

CHICKENS!!!!!

 I love the wonder and amazement of children!

Nature

 Watching my kids grow up

Celebrating with the family!

And of course.....

All things Chocolate

Linked up to
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2013/04/clever-chicks-blog-hop-32-crayon.html

http://www.thismindbeinyou.com/2013/04/farm-girl-blog-fest-30.html

Sharing..........a few things

I've been very busy the last few weeks...busy recuperating from the holidays and all the work envolved in restoring order from all the Christmas festivities. I've also been organizing things that need some organizing (I love to organize!)

and finishing a few projects that need finishing.
Another thing that has had my attention lately is keeping up with current events, and posting those things on my political blog.

And while my "to do" list continues to grow faster than I can get things checked off the list,

I just wanted to share a few bright lights from my busy days.

Over the holidays, I came across this recipe. I was in search of a gift idea, you know, one of those recipes with the cookie ingredients layered beautifully in a Mason jar. It turns out that I never gave any jars away as gifts. But we have certainly enjoyed these plump little cookies. In the last month, we have made several dozen. They have quickly become a family favorite!!

Cranberry HootycreeksMakes about 36

5/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Layer the ingredients in a 1 quart or 1 liter jar, in the order listed. Attach a tag with the following instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a cookie sheet or line it with parchment paper. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy. Add the entire jar of ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Cool for 2 minutes on baking sheets, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

I recommend you double this recipe as it does not make a lot


Another treat this week was the arrival of 4 little chickens my hubbie hatched. Little Jack enjoys watching the peeps chirping and running around their cage.

This photo was taken soon after 2 of the chicks were hatched. They're "sun bathing" under the heat of the light to get dry.


The brightest light during these cold wintery days has been Jack. He is now 3 months old. His little personally is developing right before our eyes. He's brings us much joy!

So in closing, allow me to share a little poem about joy. I'm not sure of its origin, suffice it to say-its old. The copy I have is on the old time mimeographed paper.

JOY IS HOMEMADE

Happiness is something we create in our minds--

It's not something we search for and so seldom find...

It's just waking up and beginning the day

By counting our blessings and kneeling to pray--

It's giving up wishing for things we have not,

And making the best of whatever we've got--

For it's by completing what God gives us to do

That we find real contentment and happiness, too.

Living Simply and Deliberately,

Tammy