TBT's - Three Things That Bring Me Joy

haven’t done these in a while, TBT’s. Right now, here are ten things that are bringing me joy this week:

My best friend in the whole wide world, the one person who’s seen me at my worst stages of life, and loves me despite the ugliness, and encourages me, and is my biggest cheerleader, and who speaks truth into my life like no one else can, and who I actually listen to, Kari, is coming into town this weekend, and I have the great privilege of making her dinner at my place. Seriously, folks, to say that I don’t develop deep relationships easily (cough, cough, AT ALL) would be the biggest understatement of this blog. Kari is probably my longest, deepest friendship, and is living proof that I can do it - I can maintain a real, long-lasting friendship and not scare people away!

Could this weather be any nicer? I’m so working in my garden and getting those flowers planted tonight!! And I’m so going for a drive at lunch, for no other reason than to get outside! Speaking of my garden, I walked outside this morning to go to work, and a little bunny scampered away from my garden. So, I looked over, to my vegetable bed, to see what he had wrecked havoc on, and there, crouched all Thumper style, was his partner in crime, Other Bunny, sitting in my veggie patch, with, get this, sugar snap peas still hanging out of his mouth. Really Mr. Bunny? I was very upset. Even at the cute little fuzzy bunny. I told him so, too. Anyone listening would’ve thought I was nutso, but it came out like this “Mister Bunny! What are you doing in my garden?? You rotten little bunny, you’re eating my peas aren’t you? Oooh, Mister Bunny, you are in BIG trouble!” and then I shooed him off with the BCBG platform wedge that was dangling from my hand, because I hadn’t put on my shoes yet.

I got the chance to be at camp this weekend. Camp, which you’ll read in a forthcoming post, I promise, was amazing, and I didn’t want to leave, it was that wonderful of an experience. So, since I did have to leave, I made sure that I signed up to come back soon, and so, this brings me joy – I’ll be spending a week down at camp in June, working with the Senior High campers!! According to Debbie, the camp chef, I’ll be working with the kids to do an exercise very similar to Iron Chef, where they are given a secret ingredient (or ingredients) and then have to make something out of it. I’m so very excited – I get to go back to camp!

And, when I was down at this weekend, I had time to spend with two amazing people, E & S, my fabulous part time roommates. We had car lessons, and not just any car lessons, mind you, but I taught them how to drive stick. I got to teach them to drive stick!! Years from now, they’ll look back and say that they learned to drive stick from none other than me. I made a significant impact for good in their lives!! That was probably the highlight of my time down there. The four of us in the car (Ok, Josiah was in the backseat, machine-gun-giggling), laughing, screaming, praying for our lives, laughing some more. Me, trying the hardest I ever have, to display patience and grace and more patience, as I taught them and sadly recalling my own mother trying to teach me years ago, and scaring the bejeezus out of me with her mean, discouraging yelling, and then doing just the opposite for these two, even as S almost ran us up an embankment in front of Dave’s house.

Today, those are just three of the things that bring me joy. Enjoy!