November is already well on her journey, and the end of 2015 seems near.

This week has offered me many opportunities for joy.  Monday I finished a Bible study by Kelly Minter, What Love Is.  It was my second time leading this study and well worth repeating.  Those little books of 1, 2, 3 John, near the back of the Bible, are large with wisdom.  A second take of the study brought a different group of women, and I am thankful for getting to know them better.  There is something about meeting in a home environment that breaks down walls and builds relationships.  It was a Joy-filled finale.

I was able to share some words on prayer with a group of my peers the middle of this week. Appropriately called JOY Group, these dear folk showed me their love and support by their attendance and expressions as I talked.  I cast my bread upon the waters and trusted the Father to provide nourishment to our souls.

Tonight I will attend a recital where my piano students, from elementary to high schoolers, will perform. The work we do together each week will shine brightly as they take the stage and play their sweet hearts out.  They will walk off stage afterwards, applause still ringing in the air, and my heart will swell with pride (the good kind) and fill me with much joy.  What other job could I have that gives this kind of reward?

Tomorrow Sweet William and I will attend a birthday celebration of an 80-year-old relative.  Family we don’t see often will be there.  We will be joyful at a life well lived and being a member of the family.

As I begin thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas just around a few corners, I am determined to list my daily thanks in my Joy Journal, the gifts given by a loving God.  I can easily get busy and distracted and allow stress to rob me of the vision of the beauty that surrounds me.  By counting gifts, looking for them each day, I remember that I am greatly loved and blessed beyond measure.

This week’s gifts included:

A beautiful fall pallete, though late in coming.  The trees showed off their splendor.

The few golden leaves still on the big maple tree, trembling in the breeze, looking like little hands waving.

A blue bird appearance and a pair checking out the house we put up this summer.  It’s the first time we’ve seen them show interest in it.  There is the promise of baby blues in our future.

Practicing a duet with one of my older and more advanced piano students.  Us playing in sync was pure fun.

We can enter the coming season with dread or we can enter with joy.  It’s a choice we all will make, whether we realize it not.  What will you do?

I choose joy.