When you live in Washington you take the sun when you can find it. On this particular day in January the sun came out first thing in the morning never to be seen again that day.



And that is how the small joys in life often come to us, fleeting, and if we aren't paying attention, they are gone in a heartbeat.  When life deals you periods where grief seems all encompassing it is especially important to find those little bits of joy and sunshine and hang on tight,
because those are what will help bring you through the darkness and back into the light.

 The name of my blog is French and means "joy of life," and despite all of life's difficult seasons I really want to find those moments of joy in life. I want to deliberately choose not to stay in those painful places longer than is necessary to heal. I want to revel in being part of the plans that God has for me.
 
Joy may come in forms that we don't always recognize. It can be seen in: the unadulterated  laughter of a child playing a simple game of Peek-A-Boo, the discovery of the first flower of spring, in hearing a favorite song on your iPod, in the random smile of a stranger, in a compliment, in a job well done, and sometimes it may be something as simple as that first cup of coffee in the morning. You never know what form joy will take but one thing is certain, if you aren't looking for it you probably won't find it.