Joy Pen Jar

It's Brenda's turn to host at Little Red Wagon this week and she's looking for anything but a card! I'm sharing a project that I made a couple of months ago while attending Soul Full Camp - the virtual addition!

I'm not sure how I even first stumbled across the Soul Full Camp website. I know it was at least a year ago. I joined the mailing list and camps came and went. Each time, there was a longing in me to attend although I didn't know anybody else who was involved so found excuses. When the spring camps went virtual, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to connect and I am so thankful that I did! I've attended two virtual camps now and have come away blessed and strengthened each time. The women who lead the group (Jenny and Heather), as well as the rest of the campers, welcomed me with open hearts. We laughed, cried, shared and learned together. Believe or not, we even danced too! It was so much fun!

On one of the retreats, we had a scavenger hunt. It turns out that we were collecting the items within our homes to make a "JOY" jar. What a clever idea!! I started my jar with bits of paper tucked inside reminding me of the things I have in my life that bring me joy. However, I decided to turn my "JOY" jar into a JOY pen jar. It's on my work desk (as I'm still working from home) and I see it each and every day. It reminds me that I can choose to live a life of joy and reminds me to give thanks for my many blessings. As some of you know, I lost my husband to cancer a few years ago. I have made the conscious decision to live a life of joy as I move through my grief. Am I joyful he's gone? Absolutely not! Do I still weep? Oh boy, do I ever! However, I am so conscious of the gift of time - its unknowns and uncertainties. It's a gift with no promises and I choose to live with joy as much as I can.

Here's a photo taken of the women at the Soul Full Camp virtual retreat (taken from their Facebook page). I'm second from the left in the second row. I'm looking forward to the time we can meet in person! 

Please head over to Little Red Wagon to see what the rest of the Girlfriends have made this week - and then create anything but a card to enter our challenge!