JOY!

The homemade cards, the hugs, the kisses, the endless stories ... stuff my kids do that brings me joy. But this week I discovered the one thing that truly fills my heart with joy. I enjoyed a week of watching my kids filled with JOY - overflowing with joy - so joyful that you couldn't help but smile as you watched them play.

(Reality check: there were some not so joyful moments here and there, but today we're highlighting the joyful ones!)

We spent the week camping with two other families. It was hot. It was sunny. There was a little shade. There was a pool. There was a beach. There was a playground. There were clean bathrooms and showers. We were roughin' it!

The truth is - it's not a "out in the wild" camping place. It's gated, there are lots of campers, it's private. A few years ago I would have scoffed at the thought of "camping" there. But now, with three kids under the belt, I realize that a campground like this provides the kids with an incredible amount of freedom - within boundaries. The get up, they bike to the playground, they bike to the candy store, they bike to their friend's - all by themselves. All they know is freedom - they don't even recognize the boundaries (even though they easily stay within them!).

So back to JOY. One afternoon I sat by the side of the pool reading for about 2 and a half hours (just call me Sharpe!). The entire time I sat there Karis and two of her friends climbed in and out of the pool doing crazy, silly jumps - twisting, dancing, laughing, sticking out tongues - for the entire afternoon! Talk about joy! I guess we knew what we were doing when we gave her the middle name "Joy".