It's Friday and I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo of The Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday.  We write for five minutes flat on a word given to us this morning.  Our word for today is:  VOICE.

GO:

When I first read this word, I immediately thought of the reality TV show "The Voice".  I enjoy watching this one as the judges listen to the voice alone.  Their chairs are turned so they cannot see the contestant.  Instead, they focus on listening to the voice alone.  If they like what they hear, they hit their button and turn their chair.  Often, they are surprised when they see the person their ears heard.  It doesn't always match to what they imagined in their mind.

Sometimes, I have to be like the judges.  To truly hear The Voice, I need to turn my back (chair) to all the distractions of the world and focus on listening.  No, I'm not talking about listening to music.  I'm talking about The Voice; the Holy Spirit.

How do I hear The Voice?

• I get alone in a quiet place each morning.
• I read my Bible.
• I pray.
• I write down what I learn in my journal.
• I ask Him to help me be still enough to hear during my day.
• I try to remember constant, conscious communication with the Lord.

There are many days when I get distracted.  But my goal is to always hear The Voice.  As I go about my day, I pray for that awareness.

STOP

Blessings and love,

Laughter is the best medicine.  But when was the last time you really laughed?  You know the belly ache kind of laugh.

Last week in our Pre-K 3 class, we learned the letter F.  The children get to put on their 'I Spy' eyes and go on a hunt for the letter F in our poem.  They circle all of the F's they find.  Heidi and I formed an assembly line with the twenty children.  You just have to picture this in your head!

• Heidi called each child by name and had them take off their socks and shoes.   
• She painted the bottoms of their feet with white paint.  
• We helped them to stand so we could get their footprints on a black background.  
• I cleaned the paint off their feet.
• I put their shoes and socks back on their feet.  

This simple activity was so much fun!

Some of them were ticklish.  Little Nevin started giggling the minute Heidi began painting his feet.  He couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It was so cute and ...very contagious.

We found ourselves laughing along with Nevin.  Even now, when we point out his feet in this poster, he giggles.


Recently I received a short video of my niece Kristin's baby.  Kenzie was laughing.  I can't tell you how many times I watched this video of that precious baby laughing.

Kristin and Kenzie

I know life can be hard.  Yes, there are struggles each and every day.  Moms need to train their children.  Teachers need to teach.

But in the midst of it all, I challenge you to find something to smile about.  Laugh like you mean it.  Time passes so quickly so take the time to enjoy those every day moments.

And I dare you not to laugh after watching this 30 second video?



I hope I caught you laughing.  It's OK and besides that ...it's good for you.

Blessings and love,

The small things that delight.  I spent an hour writing a blog post and ...it disappeared!

I think this little one is getting a good laugh about it.  Does she work for Blogger?

Well, I'm not going to let it get to me and hopefully I remember most of what I originally wrote.

Source

I've been learning to enjoy the every day moments.  Laughter is so good for the soul.  I can't help but laugh when I listen to the children in our classroom.  After all, it's filled with boys and girls who are three or four years old.  They are still innocent and find delight in simple things.

Melika celebrated her fourth birthday.  She loves being silly when Miss Debbie asks to take her picture.

I love how the kids proudly tell me how old they are and then guess my age.  I tell them I'm 20 and they laugh and say "no way Miss Debbie, you're 8".  I smile at that!

The children wear uniforms to school but Friday we had a special day.  It was Farm Day so they could wear jeans if they liked.  Melika was so proud of her bright pink belt that went well with her stylish jeans.  The only problem came when she had to go potty.  It's kind of hard for children this age to unbuckle a belt even though it looks very cute.

Heidi and I chuckled when we noticed Marley in her cowgirl outfit. She looked so innocent in her Daisy Mae look.  She sported two long braids.  Check out those boots; so cute!

Speaking of small things that delight, the children get so excited when they learn a new concept.  They were learning to identify patterns.  This pattern was square, circle, square, circle.  The colors didn't fool them.  They smile when we tell them they must be wearing their Smarty Pants!

I wrote about Childish Enthusiasm on Saturday (in case you missed it).  It seems to be a theme with me lately.  I never want to lose that childlike delight.  Life can be hard but there's so much to delight in too.

And speaking of delightful things ...

Even though I live far away, I get to see photos of this little bundle of joy.  Kenzie went to her first pumpkin patch event with her parents, Kevin and Kristin (my niece).  Is she cute or what?  Now that makes me SMILE for sure.

I hope that you are delighting in those small things.  Take a look around.  There's always something to smile about.  And dare I say ...laugh?

Blessings and love,