The Joy of A Child

"These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." John 15:11

I sort of wasn't looking forward to last night. We had Abigail's first Nutcracker dress rehearsal, and for me, that means a long night! I drop off Abigail at the high school where the performance will be, and then basically, Zander and I have three hours to kill. I don't feel comfortable dropping her and then running somewhere, so it means three long hours sitting in a high school commons area. That can get very boring! But Zander packed a backpack of things, and I tucked a few things into my purse, and we managed to fill our time by spending it together doing a few fun things.

Abigail, on the other hand, was beyond excited. She loves the Nutcracker and dancing in it, and last night she was a big old ball of joy when we dropped her off. We did catch a glimpse of her once during the rehearsal, and her eyes were like saucers- she was having a fantastic time, and I think that Zander and I caught that from her, because that three hours passed by much faster than I'd expected it would. I think part of that is because I decided that instead of leaving Zander to his own devices and hunkering down with a book, I decided that that time would be a great time to just spend with my son. Often times at home I get busy with things around the house, but this was three hours of time that I could just focus on him. We had a great time playing cards and cars and video games, and he got all silly and did some dancing, and he just was a joyful little boy last night.

Children amaze me all the time by how easily they bubble over with joy and excitement, specifically my children. Abigail can come home from school with the tiniest little reward in her hand, and it's as if she's won the lottery, and I think there's a lesson that we as adults can take from our children. Children are joy! They look for joy! They don't walk around looking at the glass as half-empty, and they don't purposefully look for the problems in something. They look at the glass as half full, and they look for the joy and the fun in things. Children are so open to joy that it just comes on them when it's least expected sometime. I've been trying to grab at those moments of joy myself, because life is so much more than woe is me and why aren't things better. I want to have joy in the now, and everyday. I want the joy of the Lord to fill me so that every moment is joyful and wonderful, and I want to capture the joy that my children experience all the time, and I want them to stay that way forever.

Maybe by being an example of joy myself, I can show them that being an adult isn't all doom and gloom. By showing them that living for God and living a life of joy is normal and wonderful, I'm giving them a spectacular example. So really, we're learning from each other. I'm learning how to experience the joy of a child from them, and they're learning that it's okay for an adult to experience joy. That's wonderful, and I pray that joy will follow us throughout this holiday season.