Finding Joy in the Mundane

Lately I have been feeling pretty blah!  Yes it's winter, yes it's cold!  Also add to that feeling stuck inside with wacky, crazy, high energy boys its enough to make a person go nuts!!  But you know what?  I am still looking for joy in these little blah moments of life.  Finding joy in the mundane is not always an easy task.  It can be very difficult at times.  Today I'd like to share some ways that help me find joy in the everyday tasks of life.

1)  Open each day with a Quiet Time in devotions and prayer.  This has taken quite some time for me to figure out, but finally I have a good time to get some devotions in.  My routine is to get up, shower and get ready and then have my quiet time. I spend anywhere from 15-20 minutes in a devotional book and prayer.   I do this all before leaving my bedroom in the morning.  I have found that if I come out of my room, then its all over!  The kids know that I will be available when I come out.  They are getting really good at getting their own breakfast and playing until I am ready.  The point though is to make this a priority!  We all make time for what is important and for me I had to make this an important task, just like showering!

2)  Spending time daily in the Bible.  Along with daily quiet times, I also spend time just reading through the Bible.  One goal I have set for myself this year is to read chronologically through the Bible.  I have never read through the entire Bible before and I thought reading it chronologically would be a good place to start.  I spend about 15-30 minutes, 5 days a week reading a section of scripture.  I take time in the afternoons after I finish school with my older boys and while Zach is resting to do this.  I am following a plan by Jennifer Jernigan at Diving Deeper Ministries. 

3)  Serving others!  For me I have to think of my job as a mom as an act of  service or I tend to dwell of the horridness of it all!  Yup, I just said that!  I HATE doing household chores!  So in order to not hate it so much I look at all the dirty clothes, dishes, and toys as wonderful blessings!  I am so blessed to be serving my family by cleaning their clothes, washing their dishes and stepping on their toys!

4)  Don't dwell on the mess!  Finding joy to me means not stressing over dishes in the sink and toys scattered throughout the house.  I choose not to let these discourage my attitude.  I choose to let them make my heart joyful, for the same reason as above, its an amazing blessing! I always think of this saying "Excuse the mess, my children are making memories!".  I know that this season of life is just messy!  I have 3 young kids, and I would rather spend my time loving on them than fussing over the cleanliness of my house!  YES, I do clean, my house is not filthy its just not spotless and showroom worthy either!

5)  Laughing with my family!  Lastly, I find joy by just laughing with my family!  My kids are super funny and love to laugh!  Elijah loves the Peanuts comics, even though I think they are not that funny he thinks they are hilarious!  So I choose to laugh along with him!  Noah loves to play rough, so I play rough and wrestle with him, that makes him laugh!  Zach likes to be tickled and tells amazingly funny tales.  Also as a family we love to watch Americas Funniest Home Videos that comes on every Sunday night.  As a tradition we make popcorn, I cut up apples and we watch AFV, that is a great family time of laughing together!

How do you find joy in the mundane?