The little ones around here have become lovers of rhyme. All day long, they sing and jabber about anything that sounds to them like a poem, “Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you!” They’ll turn anything into a song, “So-and-so looks like a an ape, he ate a grape, and now he’s a grape ape!” They’ll even get excited about an alliterative tongue twister. “Seven silver swans swam silently seaward…”
It’s so much fun to hear them making these silly sounds. Their voices spark so much joy in our hearts. When we hear their excited shouts all through the yard and when we see them carry another bucket of toys toward us with the words, “Come pay wit me!” Well, you know that often the answer is “Yes, of course!” We live for these moments.
On the downside, we’re not taking those adventurous trips to Tahiti that we once imagined. We’re not boarding a plane to a random destination just to have dinner as we once dreamed of doing. We’re not buying the RV and leaving the house behind. These kids keep us here, grounded, and loaded with responsibilties.
Can you see with me where this is going? The single biggest source of inconvenience that we face right now is also the biggest source of fun! Should we concentrate on all the fun we’re missing because we have a house full of kids? Should we focus on the adventures that we can’t experience? No, of course not! If we did, we’d miss the joy that God has set before us right this minute! If we only take the time to view things with the correct mindset, we can understand just how blessed we are.
Now, if your life is utterly beyond impossible, I’m sorry. But even then, and I’ve been through a lot, so I’m not just spewing empty verbiage — even then, there is joy and beauty to be experienced. For me, during the dark times in my childhood, I found joy. It was often in playing with my toys and escaping into the stories in my head or in books that I found my little spark of joy again. That attitude has served me well, and that joyful spark keeps reigniting time after painful time. And now, I’m so glad I kept looking for the bright side, because now I’m so much better at finding it! And I’m often happier than I’ve ever been.
Our life is amazing! Even in the hardest moments, we can see happy days ahead. We’re full of imagination! What’s next for us in my house today? Let’s find some fun, shall we? Let’s sit down and “pay,” or listen to someone who has something to say. Let’s smell the flowers, peek at the sky, and let the water pour off our backs when we’re blessed enough to have clean water for our bath. I want to keep counting my blessings so that I can appreciate the little things. Only then will I see the big things that I have, like these amazing kids, both the full-time ones, the borrowed ones, and the temporary visitors.
Whether or not you are in the habit of seeing the sunny side of life, please learn a little about how great your own life is by counting your blessings today. I’m recommitting myself to doing just that, starting now.