Happy Memories and AM meals
By: Missionary Team
So coming to Hard as Nails has caused me to pick up quite a lot of new things. For example Christian rap (it's ridiculously addictive!), Natural Life headbands, copious amounts of Dunkin’ Donuts, cooking, rosary making, and a major one being slang terms: yo, wack, frickers, that slaps, yeet skeet, I'm so dead, RIP, and so much more. If you don't know what any of those mean, it's okay... because that's not the point of this blog.
The point of this blog is to share about happiness, pancakes (or any other breakfast item on hand, but preferably pancakes), and a handful of people all rolled into one... which is also known as The Joy Breakfast!
Our Joy Breakfasts start with our community cooking breakfast together, cutting up small pieces of paper, writing down different joys we've experienced with each other and throughout the week, and then dropping them into our Joy jar. After blessing our food, we then take turns reading off a few of the random joys we pull out of the jar while we all eat. Whoever's name is mentioned first in the joy, they get to keep it. By this time, many of us have our own personal jars to keep our abundant joys from falling all over the floor!
Now there are many reasons why I love Joy Breakfasts, but one of them, that I think is worth mentioning, is the fact that we take a simple Sunday morning meal, and turn it into a silly, crazy, joyous memory that bonds each of us with those in our community.
It encourages you to count your blessings, to look for the good in others, especially those you struggle to love, and it encourages you to throw away the lies you’ve believed about yourself. Let me elaborate: through these joy breakfasts and community time, people have spoken truth and hope to so many things I doubted about myself. Not that my identity relies on what others say about me, but they affirmed me in all of the things that God sees in me and wants for me. It’s an opportunity to speak life.
In a world where society and speech is so filled with hate, impatience, unforgiveness, materialism, self-glorification, and self-hatred, this activity offers a taste of pure and sweet kindness that is found in the simplicity of words.
If you’ve never done this in your community, group of friends, or family, now is the best time to start! It’s such a simple, yet effective way to bring people together and to start your day off on a bright and positive note!
