Finding the joy

It’s hot outside. That is summer for you. The grass is green, sky is blue, the flowers are fragrant, and the heat makes it hard to enjoy it. Much like winter. The snow is beautiful, the fire is warm, the mountains call to the hearts of skiers and boarders to come play, and the bitter cold makes it hard to enjoy. We are never really happy in the seasons we are in until the next season reminds us how good we had it thus causing us to long for the next season to come along. Just a couple of months ago I was begging summer to show its beautiful face and now I am longing for fall to show me some love with a cool breeze.

This is very similar to life. We look at the season we are in and long for past or future seasons to save us from the heat or the cold. We find ourselves in the heat of a battle with our teenagers and long for the days they were babies peacefully sleeping in our arms and before we know it we are smacked with the cold stare of daggers when they realize the battle is lost. It is moments like these that make it hard to find the beauty of that season. How am I to find the joy through the daggers?

I find it in the cool of the morning. Just before everyone wakes up and just before the heat begins to build. I find it in the songs of the birds singing their praises to our creator. I find it in the warmth of a perfect summer night as the laughter of my children rings out through the quiet. I find it in the eyes of my babies that were once filled with sadness and fear. I see it in the smiles that are no longer forced or fake. I feel in the hugs that have a new level of trust each time they are given. I find it in the sight of a big brother not seeing his siblings as adopted but rather his. I see it in the get togethers of extended family that once shared last names and trauma but now share only healing and safe futures. It is there, joy. All around us. I just have to choose it even when in the heat of a battle, and so I write…………