Happy Face Song...

Happiness. Joy. Contentment. Peace. These are all words that describe Sarala. This is a picture of a happy face that must be drawn every time we color. And...for some reason Jason Mraz's song "I'm Yours" is known to her as the "Happy Face Song" and she sings it out everytime it plays. I love it...every minute of it....

Tonight we had the chance to take her shopping with some of her birthday money. She ended up picking out some Play-Doh and a movie..."The Emperor's New Groove." The appreciation and happiness she displays whenever she gets something makes it incredibly tough for us not to want to give her everything.

Joy. Plain and simple joy. Hours spent at the kitchen table making various food items out of Play-Doh, serving them to mom, then making some more. The other night she had me make a mouse in the midst of our culinary creation...she then proceeded to "cook" it. Man...we had a laugh. She realized the ridiculousness of cooking mice and...we laughed until we cried.

Tears. Tears of joy. These are the moments of life that I cherish...around the kitchen table...cooking mice. Despite all the issues that seem so big at times...God has provided a sanctuary, place of rest and restoration. God has blessed us so much...beyond measure...through Sarala.

There has been a theme running through my summer blog posts. I've spent the last couple months trying to find peace...actively looking for it, not knowing or realizing that I had it right in front of me...in the form of a Play-Doh mouse grilled, complimented by Play-Doh fruit snacks. Sarala loves fruit snacks;) It has been amazing to lose myself in our nightly Play-Doh sessions and to remember what it's like to laugh, cry, imagine, and smile.

The journey has had twists and turns but I find myself having grown a little...matured maybe...not letting things bother me as much as they would've not too long ago. It's there...all around us...at work...home...school...wherever...amazing God-colors.

I leave myself with this:

I must choose joy, peace, contentment, happy along the journey.

How about you? Where is your peace...joy...happy?