With Thanksgiving fast approaching I thought I’d share with you 3 things that I have been blessed with this year.  These are not the most important things to me, but they are each something that bring me joy every day that I didn’t think would bring me as much joy as they do.  They really are quite simple, but to me, that is the beauty of it.  Simple things can bring great joy.

1.  My Swimming Pool

Rumor has it that I wasn’t completely sold on a house with a pool when we began looking for our new home.  Well, the rumor is true.  I wasn’t against a pool completely, but the safety issues scared me a bit since we have small children and we have several small children in and out of our home.  The more we looked, the more Marc pushed for a pool, slowly he wore me down (when he finally said he would not even consider or look at another home without a pool, I realized his conviction on this matter).  He made some good points, mainly, we don’t ever plan on moving again and if we have to live in up to 120 degree summers for the rest or our lives, we may as well have a pool of our own to enjoy and keep cool in.  As long as the pool had a fence and other necessary safety features, I agreed.  Alas, we found our home with this beautiful pool and very much enjoyed our first summer in it.  With as much fun as we had with family and friends over the summer in our pool and as much as it helped us keep cool in our never ending Phoenix summer, those are not the reasons why I find so much joy in my swimming pool.

Look at that!  The color!  The peace!  The calmimg effect it has on me when I look out my windows and see that is AMAZING.  It really has done wonders for my mental health (no joke).  I have always loved water- the beach & ocean, but I would have never thought that looking at a swimming pool could be so therapeutic.  So there it is, one of the simple things that bring me joy.  All year long!

2. My Rose Bush

Here it is from two angles.  It is quite ironic that this is one of the things that brings me great joy.  The reason I acquired such a beautiful plant was the most painful event I have experienced in my life.  After my dad died in August, two thoughtful friends bought this for me and had it delivered to my surprise.  I love flowers but do not have much of a green thumb so I was a bit nervous that I would destroy this beautiful gesture.  I contemplated the best place to plant it for a while and finally decided that the flower box overlooking our pool was the most fitting place.  My dad owned a pool service.  He and my brother would come every week and take care of our pool for us.  Since the beautiful plant was meant for his memory, I really couldn’t have put it anywhere else, but overlooking the calm, blue water that Dad had onced cared for.  As you can see, the plant is faring quite well.  I also count this bush as a tender mercy in my life.  After I planted the rose bush, the first new bud appeared on my dad’s birthday, October 13th.  I can’t help but think that he is still with us, enjoying the view.

3. My New Backyard Lawn

The size of the yard was one of the main selling features of the home for Marc and me.  This yard has taken on a whole new role within the last two weeks as Marc and I have labored diligently preparing, seeding, fertilizing, and watering to produce the grand sight above.  The beautiful, seemingly endless, sight of green, green grass brings a smile to my face every time I look outside (which is often).  I look forward to this winter when the kids will run wildly outside and play on our lawn.  We want to share it with everyone, so come on over!

I hope this post has given you the opportunity to contemplate the simple things in your life that bring you great joy.  Sometimes life is difficult, but if we can focus from time to time on the simple things that our Father in heaven has blessed us with, we can find peace through the storms that come our way.