Psalm 113:9: “He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord” (NIV).
I think I figured out another reason why God created humans as babies before they grow up. Kids find joy in everything. The first snowfall of the season, random dancing in the living room, popsicles on summer days, or playing in the bathtub are just a few of the things that they find delight in. Why, as we grow older, do adults tend to stop smiling at the simple pleasures of life and instead see only the negative side? The first snowfall becomes, “I have to shovel,” random dancing is too loud, popsicles drip on clothes and make hands sticky, and playing in the bathtub turns into mopping up tidal waves.
I noticed that I, too, tend to look more at the work involved instead of taking time to enjoy the simple pleasures. God has been using my three-year-old to remind me that life should be more about the joy than drudgery. A chance to go for a walk becomes an adventure for him and grocery shopping every week turns into special jokes between the two of us and a chance to see new toys, hold my hand instead of ride in the cart, and a chance to show off his muscles carrying the packages.
When I make a point to see the positive, shoveling snow turns into spontaneous snowball fights with my family, random dancing in the living room is a great way to exercise, sticky messes with popsicles become an excuse to run through the sprinkler, and cleaning up the bathroom is a chance to get that chore out of the way so I can relax later.
Sometimes it’s still hard to see the positive when I have deadlines to meet, schedules to keep, dinner, laundry and ten other things vying for my attention all at once. But I can guarantee that fifteen years from now, when the kids are grown and on their own, I will miss the random dancing, sticky popsicles, and tidal waves in the bathroom. Until then, I’m going to try to remember to yell less, laugh more, and capture as many of these memories as possible in my heart and with my camera.
I love this! Life is so much more fun when we look for the positive instead of the reacting toward the negative!
Thank you, Christy, for commenting. Hope you will interact again as you feel led. Blessings to you and your family.
in Him,
Cheri 🙂
I am now not positive where you are getting your info,
but good topic. I must spend a while learning much more or
understanding more. Thanks for great info I was looking for
this info for my mission.
You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which
I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me.
I am looking forward for your next post, I will try
to get the hang of it!
Thank you for commenting. If you mean that finding the joy in the everyday, mundane things seems to complicated, yes, I can understand what you are saying. Sometimes you have to look a little harder in order to find the “good,” but with the right attitude (and usually for me that means asking God to help me find the blessing in whatever situation I find myself in) joy can be found in almost all situation. Praying for you that this topic will become less complicated and joy will be found quicker each time.