The happy jar

I found this idea on Pinterest, where else?  And I am super excited to implement this in our home and hopefully make it a yearly tradition.  I've seen it called a Gratitude Jar but I like to call it the Happy Jar because the idea can involve more than thankful/grateful moments.

The idea is that starting January 1st, you begin writing down little nuggets of happy things that you experience on any given day.  You put these happy notes in a jar for an entire year and then read through them on December 31 so you can remember all the wonderful moments that happened that year.  It can be anything that brings a little smile to your face, big or teeny tiny.  It could be anything! 
For instance, something I'm going to add to our jar is that on January 2, our neighbor snow-blowed and shoveled our driveway for us (a blessing!).  We have rock star neighbors; this is not the first time this has happened nor is this the first neighbor to serve us in this manner.  This will be going in the happy jar!  Something I definitely want to remember!

As a stay-at-home mom who doesn't get out much, I find it easy to get in a slump or complain about stupid things like Selah only napping for 30 minutes or how I spent the majority of my day wiping her snotty nose.  Instead, this "happy jar" idea encourages me (and my growing family) to be thinking through their day and writing down something that made them smile or made them happy.  

I L.O.V.E. the idea of reading through them at the end of the year.  I guarantee that the happy moments we read through, we will have easily forgotten about and it will be such a blessing to read them and think "Oh yea!  I remember that!  That was so awesome when ___ happened!" God places even the littlest of things in our lives to serve as reminders of His love for us and the joy we can find every day if we so choose.

Here's to a happy and memorable 2014.