Why joy and not happiness? 

As I was doing my research on why Joy should be my word for 2019 I came across this explanation. Unfortunately I did not note exactly where I got it from but it really spoke to me.

"Joy and happiness are wonderful feelings to experience, but are very different. Joy is more consistent and is cultivated internally. It comes when you make peace with who you are, why you are and how you are, whereas happiness tends to be externally triggered and is based on other people, things, places, thoughts and events."

This year it was hard to decide on that special word. And to be quite honest when I first saw the word I wasn’t completely sold on it. I mean having joy is cool and all but Joy didn’t scream at me like past words of the year had. And so I kept fighting it and searching for another word to help me grow through 2019. But here’s the thing, having joy is not like having happiness. Joy comes from within. Having joy means you have accepted who you are and have decided to be joyful regardless of what is happening in your life. It is a choice to see the good in any situation which in my opinion is a pretty good goal to make for the year. With each word of past year I have experienced the best and the worse of it all. It's true what they say, be careful what you wish for, or in this case what you pray for, because God sure has a unique way to grant you your prayers. So I am sure that it will be challenging to find joy in the everyday but I am up for the challenge. Or so I hope to be. 


Past Words of the Year:
2015 Grace
2016 Faith
2017 Healing 
2018 Patience

Yes, that's right. We're pregnant! Well, we've been pregnant. For 20 weeks now.  

Initially I had all this amazing ways I wanted to document this pregnancy. It was going to be awesome, and with this being more likely than not our last baby, I had a goal to enjoy every second of every minute with our sweet baby regardless of of bad it was. And well, yeah, that did not happen. But I have been pretty good about documenting weekly pictures of the bump so that counts for something right :)

Coincidentally today happens to be our 20 weeks ultrasound appointment. But guess what? We're keeping the gender of this bundle of joy a secret until delivery. Or so that's the plan. Our family and friends are not happy about it, which I get. I do. I keep thinking though, there aren't many surprises of this magnitude in life. I admit however that it would have probably been easier to do this the first time around instead of the third time and being parents to two boys already. 

Nonetheless we' are super excited! I have a couple of posts to follow so be sure to follow up.