It's all a gift

Today.  Oh, today.

Although hilarious in hindsight and entirely too long to tell, the "big moments" of my day included:
-one of my children going "missing" while he was in specials (translation:  "specials" = art, music, PE, computer lab, library)...no worries, he was found in the bathroom  :)
-projectile vomit that was EVERYWHERE- all over our floor (which is carpet, by the way), all around the trashcan, all over the trashcan, all over him, all over me...yeah
-while cleaning myself off, another one of my kids got a nosebleed

Oh, today.  

Something I'm working on in my life is counting everything as joy.  Everything.  Every.  Single.  Thing.  Sometimes, I do really well with it.  Sometimes, it feels like I'm failing.

I've taken the Joy Dare- a dare to count the gifts God has given me.  A dare to count 1000 gifts in 2013.  I'm lucky that I have 4 wonderful women who have also taken the dare to meet with on Sunday afternoons.  Over coffee and around an aqua table, we discuss our good things, our struggles...and what it means to count each as a gift and all as joy.

I typically count 3 gifts a day (3 gifts a day x 365 days per year = 1095 gifts in a year).
Today's theme:  3 Gifts Seen As Reflections.  I'm reflecting on my whole day.

The "missing" child (who has autism, by the way)- not only did I know where to find him, but how to get him to come with me.  Holding his hand walking back to our classroom today was an incredible reminder of how far he has come, how far I have come.
While I had vomit all over me, I work with and for a principal who was gracious enough to let me leave school a little early to shower and change clothes.
Not only did I not get sick, I was able to find the humor in the situation pretty quickly.

1, 2, 3...and many, many more.  Gifts that I've noticed.  And gifts that I haven't.

My dog is barking.  Mildly annoying?  Yes.  But it means I can hear.  And that's a gift.

What can you count as joy today?

Kayla