Joy>Stress

SO it's birthday time and I am STRESSED beyond stressed. 

Stella turns ONE on March 5th! I am SO excited and a little in denial that my lil baby girl is turning one already. 

She is an expert crawler.

Loves to feed herself.

Says words such as Mama, Papa, Baba, and jibergaggo. 

She gives kisses and snuggly hugs. 

She is learning to walk and getting better every day. 

She loves to "run" through the corps building on her push walker, and man does she get places fast! 

Her best friend is Samara (who is only about 2 1/2 weeks younger than her!). 

She loves to play with other kids and tries to talk to them.

She looks adorable in EVERYTHING she wears.

She has 5 teeth, but only 2 are visible (the others are JUST thru the gums).

She loves to throw her hands up in the air when you say "Yay God!".

She is very ticklish. 

Her newest thing is digging through bags and throwing the stuff everywhere. 

She is a curious little kitten!

So after typing all that stuff about my beautlfuly blessed girl I am not as stressed. 

Heres what I was stressed over:

What if I dont have enough money to throw the party?

What if there isn't enough food?

What if the kids who come don't behave/follow the rules of the blow ups?

What if the parents who come don't keep track of their kids and make them respect the rules?

What if I have to play "Mrs. Stacy" instead of "Stella's Mommy"

(I am a youth worker at The Salvation Army-I work with kids everyday :)

What if, because there are so many people coming, the attention gets taken away from Stellie?

What if a guest gets mad because I haven't showed them enough attention?

Here is the realization I have come to after praying and thinking about my daughter:

It is STELLA'S party.

The day is to celebrate HER birth and short lil life so far.

There is always going to be someone that is going to be upset.

If kid's don't respect the rules they can be asked to leave or sit down.

If they refuse to respect the rules again I can DEFLATE the blow ups (muhahahaha).

Stella won't remember a thing.

Most (hopefully all) of the people are going to be there to watch Stella SMASH a lil baby cake. 

I don't have to throw a meal. The party is from 1-3.

Again, it's Stella's day. Not mine. Not my husbands. Not the guests. 

So, after all that I realized that I was letting the stress of other people's future actions and attitudes take away the joy that I once had planning my child's 1st birthday. I should be excited and happy to celebrate her life, instead of worried and stressed about other people's expectations. 

Matthew 6:27 NLT

 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Nope, they sure can't. One thing they can do is take away the Joy you had before the worry set in. I will not let this happen any longer. 

1 Peter 5:7

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Yes, God even cares about the small minute things such as being stressed about 1st birthday parties. He wants us to be filled with His joy and gladness! SO tonight I am choosing Joy over Stress. And tomorrow, when I start to worry about the party again while we are shopping for a few decorations, I will again choose Joy over my worry and stress. I will choose to celebrate my beautiful, bright, blessed Stella Luna.

JOY>stress

 Stella and our doggie Hol Jol

 Stella and Samara

 Samara, Stella's BFFL

Quality time with Daddy!