JOY #24 Son #1

August 1983

This little guy came into our lives

As a 21 month old foster child

Who would not have fallen head 

over heels in love

With this red headed, freckle faced

Chunky little kiddo

 

Today 

Married and raising My 3 K's

He is still the joy of my life

And even with a face full of hair

Tattoos around his neck

And sunglasses 24/7

 

I'm still head over heels 

In love with my oldest son

Happy 32nd Birthday

JOY #24

MY ANDREW

JOY #23 RAIN

RAIN

Phoenix doesn't get a whole lot of rain

So when we do

I LOVE IT!!!

It rained for 30 straight hours

Ahwatukee got just at 3"

My pool is filled to the very top

It was cool and damp today

But no rain for about 14 hours

It's raining as I type

MY JOY #23

RAIN

Joy #19 #20 #21 #22 SENSES

 

You may ask yourself

What happened to Cindy's

Joy Posts?

 

Well, once in awhile

I go through a little 'funk'

 

Like this week

 

Coming up on the Holiday season

Is challenging when you spouse

Passed away on Christmas Eve

And his birthday is New Year's Eve

 

I'm better now

Just had a few low days

So here are my JOY's

 

 

 

I am SO Thankful for our senses

I think of people around me

Who are unable to hear or see or even taste

 

At 55 I am grateful to still have the ability

To do all 5

 

I was sitting in the backyard yesterday

Watching and listening to my youngest

Granddaughters play

I cannot imagine not having that Blessing

 

It filled my heart with SO my JOY

I decided not to share photos of them

But just a photo of the senses

We are blessed with

 

That is my JOY

Please pray for others who have lost senses

Do you know that cancer patients can lose

The sense of smell and taste

Many with diabetes lose the sense of sight

Many in our world don't have the ability to hear

And what about folks who are amputees

They have lost the ability to HUG

 

Count your blessings today

If you are able to

See, Hear, Smell, Taste and Touch

 

My JOY

Senses!!!!



JOY #18 Work

JOY #18

Work

After spending a few days away from the Office

It was a Joy to return

And find I had plenty of work to do

With so many people out of work

I am always grateful 

To have a job I absolutely LOVE

And to have that job working with people I 

Appreciate, Admire and Adore

MY JOY #18

MY JOB

JOY #17 Open Doors

 Although the photo below is NOT my home

I am thankful today and find Joy in

Open Doors

As many across our world 

Have faced weather related tragedies over the past several days

I am thankful that I can open my doors

And enjoy a bit of cooler air

Arizona is a land of deserts and extreme heat in the summer

We live with doors closed

Air conditioners running

And very seldom spend any time outside

For several months of the year

This is the time of year

We can open our doors and enjoy

My heart goes out to those

Whom today

Have lost the door to open

To those whose homes have been destroyed by tornado's

I am lifting you up and praying that God will comfort you

That God will provide your every need

That neighbors and friends far and near

Will reach out to you with compassion and love

In some way, I pray that the weather events

Of the past week or so 

Will be Open Doors for all of us 

To step through and Minister in some small way

To those hurting around us

Is there an open door that you need to walk through

Literally or figuratively 

I ask you to seek the Lord tonight

Ask what opportunity He has set before you

What door has He opened

For YOU to walk through

Enjoy the breeze of the literal open door

But also enjoy the Challenge of the figurative

Open Door that God has placed in front of you this day

God Bless 

JOY #17 Open Doors

JOY #16 Helpers

It was Such a Blessing 

To have my brother and my oldest son

Come to the house and help clean up some 'treasures'

The guys loaded two trucks full of those treasures

One we took to the dump

The second my oldest is taking to the

Scrap Metal business next to his work

 

Speaking of his work

When we went to the dump

He thought it would be nice to take us to his work

Which is just down the road from said work site

I was Totally Not dressed for photos

(Please disregard my 'style')

Yet, it was fun to climb on this chipper machine thingy

Thanks for the tour of your playground kiddo

And...

Thank you to both of you for cleaning up the side yard

So nicely :)

This momma is Happy 

MY JOY #16

HELPERS

JOY #15 God's Word

I chose God's Word

As my Joy for the center of this 

Thankful Month

Because God and His Word

Must be the Center of my Life

I am Nothing without the Lord

Many folks believe that

Psalm 118:8

Is the center of the Bible

Some believe it is Psalm 117

I do not claim to be a theologian

Nor have I ever sat down to count

Chapters and do the math

So, for today

I captured Both verses

I will however focus on Psalm 118:8

"It is better to take refuge in the Lord

Thank to trust in man".

The Lord and His Word

Are my refuge, my strong tower and

My complete Center

When all else falls apart around me

I KNOW where I can find my Peace

My stabilizing force, My Rock

My JOY #15

GOD'S WORD

 

JOY #14 Day Trippin'

Because this is my vacation week

And I had to postpone my trip

And we have worked so hard on projects

I decided we needed a day trip

So,

We drove up to Payson and then

Tonto Natural Bridge

Be Ware

Photo Over Load 

The temperature was about 60

There was a slight cool breeze

You can see in the above photo

How the water is being blown as it falls

It was a perfect day for colorful photos

Beautiful Crystal Clear Blue Skies

LOVE the color of these leaves

Twisted Trees

Matthew's Doggie and Me

We did an impromptu photo shoot of 

Matthew's hair 

Nearly made Matthew sick

When I slammed on the breaks to take a 

Shot of this windmill

Color Everywhere

More twisting and turning

Under the Bridge

More Hair

Oh, how he Loves his hair

JOY #14

Day Trippin'

JOY #13 This GUY!!!

This Guy

This Silly Guy

 

Placed in my arms 28 years ago this month

By a sweet and trusting young woman

Who thought we might be able to nurture him

Give him a home and some love

And accept the facts of his 

Not so glowing prognosis

 

This guy

Has amazed us all

By his fight, love and that infectious smile

 

 

This guy

Has worked so hard this week

Helping his momma

Tackle a Huge project

This guy

Has brought more joy to my life

Than anybody deserves

 

The project is not yet complete

But today 

MY JOY #13

Is

This GUY!!!!

Joy #12 Laughter

When you give up your vacation trip

That you had been planning for months

When the dog steps in wet cement

In your house

When you MUST work a project

Instead of going on said vacation

 

When your home office 

Looks like a tornado went through it

 

When things go wrong

And they often do

Laughter is the BEST medicine

Because 

Nobody got time for crying and anger

JOY #12

LAUGHTER

JOY #11 Veterans

To ALL Who Have Served

I Thank God for YOU

AMEN and AMEN

JOY #10 A Sneak Peek

Just a quick 

Sneak Peek

At our Project for this week

 

M is doing his fair share of the work

 

This is the very last piece 

Of powder blue carpet

That was in the house when we purchased it in Jan 1995

Happy to see it go..........

 

Being Wise about Toxins

JOY #10

A Sneak Peek

JOY #9 My 3 K's

MY 3 K's

Each with their own unique Personality

 

Their own Creative Bent

 

Their own special way

To Melt this Nana's Heart

My JOY #9

MY 3 K's

JOY #8 PTO

Although I am not going on a trip :(

I do have the next 9 days off  :)

My To Do list is longer than my time

Yet, I am looking forward 

To checking a few things off of it

It will feel So Wonderful

To see projects 

Finally crossed OFF my list

And...

Maybe a mani/pedi or massage as well!!