Joy.
“A feeling of great pleasure and happiness.”
That’s what the dictionary defines it as.
And so many things bring just that to my life.
Kisses from Jett, seeing my students learn something new, music, sunrises, spending time with family and friends, spreading Jesus’ love with others, a good hug, holding J’s hand, weddings, my Tigers winning, and tons more. And this weekend, brought tons of joy to my heart.
A trip to the coast was on my mind a lot during chemo, and I knew that a little getaway would be needed before my surgery. After months of doctors appointments and treatments, a trip of fun was in the works. And that’s just what we did. Good food, shopping, tons of laughs, and lots of memories.
On Friday, we ventured to the beautiful town of Summerville. It was so fun to be able to show J the house I grew up in, and the sweet little town that I lived in for 13 years. Much has changed, but then again there are things that are exactly as I remember them. The firecracker stand and ball friend across the road from our neighborhood, Berlin G. Myers hardware store, Azalea Park, restaurants that we frequently ate at, and our church, were just like when we left. I will always have a special place in my heart for my first hometown.
I can’t help but think of Montgomery Gentry’s
song that says....”where I was born, where I was raised, where I’ll keep all my yesterdays, this is my town.”
The rest of our weekend was spent with our dear friends, Jeremy and Erica. I went to high school with E and Jeremy grew up rodeoing with J. After we had been dating for sometime, we set them up, they hit it off, and even married before we did. Our matchmaking skills were a success, I’d say. We’ve made tons of memories over the years and this weekend was super special and all about celebrating. Celebrating our friendship and their 15th wedding anniversary! After filling our bellies with delicious seafood, we found the cutest dualing piano dive. One of the first songs they played was “Lean On Me”. It was all I could do to hold back the tears because these friends have done just that. They’ve been there for us to lean on and always seem to bring the rainbow when the rain is pouring down. They both have been some of our biggest supporters during this journey and we are so grateful.
Saturday was filled with tons of walking and browsing the cutest little boutiques. Erica and I both love to shop, so King Street was a must. The boys stuck with us, and went in every store we did. They never complained, they smiled the whole time, and just were such good sports. We’ve got good boys and I’m constantly thanking Jesus for giving me a Godly man who leads our family and takes good care of us.
On our way out of town, we braved the Lowcountry Oyster Festival at Boone Hall and it was awesome. I’d say it’s quite rare that we are all oyster lovers, but we shucked a bunch, ate our share, and survived the rain.
My parents graciously kept our little guy so we could make this weekend happen, and I had no doubt that he’d be well taken care of.
So that was our weekend.
Much needed, restful, and full of joy.
And then I came home to this sweet letter and package! I have a feeling one of my favorite guys in the whole world shared my story with this ministry. Thank you @faithfullyboldmovement for encouraging me to stand boldly during this time, asking for grace and mercy from our precious Lord. He is good and I trust that He has me in the palm of His hand.
And that promise, my friends, brings the most joy.
“I sing for joy as what Your hands have done.”
Psalm 92:4
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