Joy in the Little

Hi all!!!

I hope you are having an amazing week!!!

It's actually kind of insane how richly God has blessed me over the past few weeks. We have finally gotten into the routine of things here: we had our first Small Groups on Wednesday which went so well! And I was given the opportunity to go on outreach TWICE in the last few days!!! To my favorite places in the whole wide world!!!

I got to go to Pueblos this past Friday, which was my Friday site during my entire first year. I was able to give big hugs to my sweet kiddos after not seeing them all summer, and it was a blast. I couldn't have asked for a better outreach. It was funny, actually- we normally blow up water balloons at one of the kiddos houses, but he wasn't allowed to get wet so we didn't ask. Before we left for outreach, I threw a case of water in the trunk. Within minutes of remembering this, the kids all had water bottles in hand and were ready to throw water on each other.

And let me tell you, the giggles from these sweet boys was the most amazing thing I have ever heard. They had SO much fun with these water bottles. It reminded me of how blessed I am- if these kids can get a kick out of using bottles of water to soak each other, who am I to complain about my coffee not tasting right or my day not going exactly as planned? If these kiddos can find joy in the little things, so can I.

The following morning, I was able to return to Imperial! I got to see my sweet friends, make new ones, and play with all kinds of kiddos. I was hanging out, once again, with some of the boys, and they asked me to close my eyes as they led me to their exciting new play structure. With (mostly) closed eyes and a sweet child's hand in mine, we walked to the new play structure and as soon as I opened my eyes, they started screaming and jumping with excitement. They loved this tiny, already breaking play structure! They asked me to play on it with them and it was so much fun.

As you can tell, I had quite a few heart checks this weekend. Who am I? Who am I to complain about not sleeping well or my coffee not tasting as good as last week's or the water turning cold in the middle of my shower? Some of these kids don't even have their own beds. They don't have the blessing of getting coffee from Starbucks whenever they want. And their water probably turns cold more often than mine in the shower.

So I'm very thankful. And very blessed. And definitely challenged to find more joy in the little things from here on out.

Because everything is worth celebrating, am I right?!?!?!


You'll be hearing from me again soon! But until then, all my love is yours.

Rylee Maria


#HesDoingANewThing
#EverythingIsWorthCelebrating - #EspeciallyYou

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Here's the true test of the motives in your heart:  Would you still write if no one was reading it?  How do you act when you don't think anyone is watching?  A true posture of humility.  Philippians 2:3 TPT "Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only HARM your CHERISHED UNITY. Don't allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic HUMILITY put others first and view others as MORE important than yourselves." (emphasis was my own)  I was in a staff meeting the other day, thinking about the people around me and how blessed I am to learn from them and grow as a leader with them. Then I starting thinking about something so small that I used to practice but I no longer do: I've been walking into rooms with the heart posture that I have little to learn. I'm not sure where or when I picked up this prideful nature, but I did. And as I sat in that staff meeting, I realized I still have so much to learn.  Jesus walked into rooms as the least ...
Read more

Life Update

Hey hey!!! Long time no see, I know, I know. Life gets in the way a bit too often for this girl to think about updating anywhere! Life Update: I graduated my first year of DCLS in June! I know I updated in late May about what life looked like then, but I will be the first to tell you my life has turned completely around since then!  Grad was absolutely incredible and more than I could have ever expected. I was actually awarded Student of the Year, which completed and wrapped up my year so perfectly. Graduation was full of hugs, tears, laughter, but mostly an insane amount of love. I couldn’t have asked for a better end to my first year.  I was able to return home for the summer which was SO nice. I have to give it up for my parents here, because they’re the greatest and allowed me to work crazy amounts this summer and still loved me when I was cranky and sleep deprived. I was able to work my tail off to save a decent amount for returning to Los Angeles (where I ...
Read more

Gentle Surprises

 Hey hey!  Back again only eleven days after my last post. Broken record?!?!? This first semester as a third year has been so so wild. Half of what I get to do and what my life looks like has been totally unexpected in the best way possible.  Before returning for my third year, Holy Spirit whispered to me that there would be some "gentle surprises" along the way this year. If you know me, you know I do not enjoy surprises. I love to know what's going to happen and what's going on at all times. Christmas kills me because I just wanna know what I'm getting!! Anyone else this way?! Anyways, I was never told what these gentle surprises would be or what they would look like, I just walked into my third year expecting some sort of surprises.  The first was probably two weeks into returning to Los Angeles. The first years were about to arrive and with being in a new building this year, everything was all a little different. I had moved into the first floor of our three f...
Read more