little bits of joy

 

Happy Thursday, friends. I just looked at the bottom of this graphic that still has my old blog name; I need to update some of those on Canva soon! I may work on that this weekend. I have had some little bits and pieces of joy this week that I want to share today...I've had enough of myself being gloomy. (It's not going away fully, but I don't want every post to be that way.) Anyway, here are some things that made me smile this week. 

Being back at work and receiving a ton of sweet hugs on Monday started patching up my broken heart. It was so good to see my friends and co-workers, and to see the smiles of the kids I've grown to love so much. The littles in my class were so happy to see me back; I'm excited to get to know them more in the coming days. 

My friend Karen at work just makes me so happy. Her transparency and genuineness are something to behold. I'll never forget walking out of the ICU the night that Chris died and seeing her sitting there; she took one look at my face and burst into tears the minute she saw me. I think we bonded forever in those moments. Just texting her and knowing she's there are a big reason why I love work so much, even if I don't see her as often as I did last school year. I have a fifteen minute window of time each afternoon that I just go and sit in her room as I transition from when my little student goes home and my dismissal assignment. 

Monday night made me smile because I was so tired after work, in the best of ways. I was sitting with my legs up on my couch working on a blog post for this week, when I heard the front door open. My best friend Missy walked right in and just sat down. She said she "needed to lay eyes on me" after my first day back at work. I love her for this! She doesn't call or text, she just shows up. I love that my sons communicate with her the way they do, too. This is the gift that friendship is, and I am so very grateful for my people. 

I briefly saw Abbey's sweet kiddos this week as well, on the same night as Missy, and that brought a huge smile to my face. They wanted to come in so badly, but they'd been sick and it was slowly moving its way through their family. I remember those days! 

I've had two separate instances in which friends that aren't that close needed to stop by to hug me and to bring me something. I loved this; one of them is a friend I used to pray with when my sons were younger. We were two of the people who started up a local chapter of a prayer group for moms with kids in public schools. We would meet in homes for an hour each Monday, pray, then write letters to the staff members whose names we lifted up. It was a really sweet time in my life, and we hope to go to lunch sometime soon. The other couple who stopped by is from my old church; they brought me fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on Monday night. They are so good, and it was the sweetest gesture. 

Laughing in the fourth grade has been wonderful this week. The teacher that I'm with is hilarious and sarcastic, and all of her quips fall short on young ears, but I'm just always back there laughing. I love her! 

Speaking of fourth grade, we have a field trip coming up that I can't wait to go on! I've not been on a field trip since my kids were young. We're going to the high school in town to see the play, How to Train Your Dragon. After that we'll have a picnic lunch at the school if the weather permits; if not, we'll eat in our classrooms that day. 

Meeting some new friends of my sons this week was something that brought a smile to my face. One of them was a girl! ;) 

I haven't been able to watch tv a lot, so I've spent a lot of time reading and listening to music. I finished a book this week, my one and only of the summer, and started another one that is moving faster for me. It's a favorite author of mine that I love, and it just makes me so happy to read it and get lost in the story. I've also been reading and using some resources that I've been given over the past couple of years; I love it when a book has a part for the morning and evening. These things help me to feel close to the Lord. 

Lastly, it makes me smile that I have a plan in place for church this week; I'm going back to the church that I had started with Chris. I told Jonah this last night when he asked me if I was going, and he said he wanted to go with me. Ummm, okay! That hasn't happened in a very long time, and nothing makes me happier. 

What's something good from your week? I'd love to hear! Thanks for reading today, friends. Love to all!

Jen