I have a dear friend, one in a very different life stage than I. She, has 4 little ones, I, I have myself to take care of. Life stages. Many opportunities to spread joy, even when we are interacting in different life stages. We just need to get a little creative.

This friend and I were recently chatting, we exchange messages back an forth throughout the week to stay in touch, to stay connected in each others lives.

This past week, my friend was having a more challenging week, it seems we take turns on who has a challenging week, sometimes it’s the workload, other times it’s the parenting. Sometimes it’s the “life is too fast paced and I am overworking myself,” other times it’s the “I’m feeling like all I do is tend to the little ones.” These seasons can be heavy, burdensome, and overwhelming emotionally.

Sometimes one simple question, “How can I help you practically this week?” can be what unlocks opportunity to spread joy.

I pop that kind of question. Desiring to help my friend have a little bit of a better week and really not knowing how.

My friend responds to that question, she say’s “something that would be helpful is if you ever bake something like those bagels or a loa of bread or anything homemade and could make some extra for us. Having nourishing food to feed my fam without having to spend so much time in the kitchen is a huge gift!”

Wow. I would love to do that. Easy. Spread joy that way to my friend? Done deal. I love baking and making food but it’s even more satisfying to give it away or share some of it.

So this is what we do, in this season joy is spread by sharing a little bit of extra food. In my heart, I feel light, purposeful, I feel a smile form across my face, my eyes light up at the thought of sharing food with my friend, spreading joy in this way.

Spreading joy can be practical. And once we discover what spreads joy to another, let’s do that, and do that some more. I love getting to spread joy to this friend of mine, in this way. Thank you friend, for this opportunity!