This week mark’s the halfway point of our book club! Thank you so much to everyone reading along!

And thank you to Sally for mentioning this book club on her blog today! {P.S. She’s also giving away a copy of Seasons of Mother’s Heart over there today – if you don’t have it, go enter now!}

You can also find ME over at The Homeschool Village today with my monthly “Diary of a Homeschool Newbie” entry!

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So interesting that my other post today was about happiness and this post is about joy – I love when God lines things up like that! Not a coincidence, my friends!

In chapter 6,  one of the lines Sally wrote stuck out to me as EXACTLY what I have been feeling and how I have been living…

The joys get lost in the blur of too many activities, dimmed by nearsightedness that sees only the housework that must be done, the educational goals that must be achieved, and the needs that must be met.

A blur. That’s what life has been lately. And we’re not even involved in that many things right now. But it’s all that “necessary” stuff that can take over my life.

Laundry. Dishes. Chores. Lessons.

I have issues with time management, as well as putting things off until later. Just ask the hubby – I’m pretty sure it drives him crazy since he is the exact opposite.

And he is exactly right because a lot of the joy in my life slips through the cracks when I’m trying to catch up all the time.

The times we can’t go outside to play because I have a pile of dishes from the night before that HAVE to get done.

The times I can’t enjoy a moment of play with the boys because I have to get laundry going or they won’t have any underwear to wear.

Both examples of things I COULD have done right when they needed to be done, but I chose to save them for later. And my sharing of joy with the boys is what pays the price for that procrastination.

I have goals for this week and they all involve getting more joy back into the life of our family. I refuse to let us continue in “getting by” mode. This week, I will plan ahead and work ahead to provide more opportunities for spontaneous fun and LOTS of joy!

And I’m also going to spend some time answering the question I asked in my happiness blog post today – go check it out and think about it for yourself! I think I will ask the boys and the hubby the same question as well.

We are reclaiming joy this week! Will you join us?

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What are your thoughts from this week? Leave a comment below or link up your post!