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#ChooseJoy #JoyGivers365 Week 5

Whoa! It is Week 5 already??! It's February which means my BIIRRRTTTHHDAAAYYYYY is just right around the corner! If you know me at all, you know I have a massive love for my Birthday so that itself gives me great joy!! ;)

So last week I left off with the teaser about what my Piano Studio is going to do to be #JoyGivers365. At the end of March, I am taking a group of students with me to a local retirement center/nursing home that I frequent, and we are going to put on a concert for the residents!

  For several months now, as a side part of my business, I have been visiting different nursing homes/retirement centers in the area and playing hour long concerts for the residents. In all honestly they really bless me more than I could ever bless them! 

Since I am at some particular ones once at month, I try to change things up a bit, and add some interesting things to my concerts. At Christmas I did a Musical Nativity and read Luke 2 interspersed with songs that matched up with the verses.

I was trying to think of something special to do for them, during the Holiday Free Portion of the winter we are in, and thought it would be a perfect time to have my students come! I have some students who play other instruments as well, so we are going to have a mini band concert! 

For awhile now I have been wanting to introduce service projects as part of my studio activities, I'm so excited that it is finally a reality! I want to teach my students not just about learning music and playing for themselves, but how they can use music to reach out to others, to bless someone, make someone smile. That being a Pianist is not just about you. I want them to think about how they can use their talents and abilities for someone other than themselves. 

Again, being a #JoyGivers365 does not take a super human feat! It does not always cost money, or make you do something you have no idea how to do, or can't even figure out. It's just about taking a moment to do something nice for someone else. To think about someone other than yourself.

An example of this for me was this past weekend I was entering a contest online. We've all seen the facebook contests where you have to like, share and comment on a status or picture to be entered. This particular one was a comment to enter. I commented and while doing so, some of the recent comments popped up below me. I noticed one individual said that they would like to win because they need cheered up. You could tell by her comment she was really sad over something. Now I have no idea who this person was, I can't even remember her name. But something about her comment pulled at my heart. I felt bad for her. So despite being a little afraid I would sound like a nutjob, I replied to her comment with some encouraging, kind words. I prayed for her that evening when I went to bed.

It only took a few seconds of my day to say something nice to someone who was very clearly hurting. Did it make her day better? I don't know! I hope so.

It doesn't take much to be nice to someone. To go out of your way to encourage them or just be kind. What I have found these past 5 weeks is the more that I look for ways to be kind and search out ways to bless others, the less I think about myself, and my problems. I want to cultivate an attitude of JOY in my heart, so that no matter what happens, what circumstances of life I am faced with, instead of looking at the negative and being a Davie Downer, I will see instead the blessings that God has given me and the joy in the midst of life's challenges. 

I'm not there yet, but we've got 47 weeks to go!!!!!!
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