Elizabeth is talking about taking small steps toward joy and inviting others to share. First, let me give the book she co-wrote with Danielle Bean a shameless plug. It’s a perfect read for busy moms to develop a new habit of taking baby steps toward a day directed to being present and finding God’s will for you. Each month focuses on a theme and January’s entries are all about JOY. Good timing, no?

Why does joy seem to be so elusive to so many of us who really are living our days surrounded by the people we love most and (at least in my case) doing exactly what I want to be doing right now. I know I’m content. I experience real peace when everyone is healthy and we’re not too busy. For the most part, I think we’re productive, growing, mostly thriving. I have friends and family who have suffered terribly this past year and I’m mindful that life turns on a dime. Elizabeth’s post made me wonder whether I am truly, deep-down joy-filled. I can’t say that I am but I can’t say that I’m not. Stay tuned.

I will join the conversation with this….I am joyful when I hear my 8 year old singing, humming, jiving, snapping, whatever he does-just because it’s in him. He is a JOY BOY-mostly. I am joyful when Luke says something that makes Hannah crack up. She gets him and he likes that. I am joyful when Hannah shares her heart with me. She’s an introvert just like me and it’s easy for her to retreat and ponder things on her own. I’m joyful when Kate creates something witty and amazing on paper. She’s a funny one that girl and I’d love to be inside her brain when it’s forming the pictures. Finally, I’m joyful that Mark and I often exchange glances or a private laugh when we catch glimpses of the kids’ personalities which makes me know that this all isn’t blowing by us unnoticed.

As other moms have confessed, it’s not all roses and kodak moments. As often as I take the time to appreciate these qualities in the kids, the very same things might annoy me at other times. I can be snappy and short. Sometimes I’m thankful that the windows are closed in the winter for fear that someone would hear me at the end of my rope. I’d love to be as patient and gentle in tone as some of my friends. I try and often fail. I guess that’s where joy eludes-in the failing. I try to remember to pray for patience, help, guidance or one of the kids’ guardian angels to please, just this once, let him listen the first time! Usually I forget to pray about it in the moment and it gets the better of me. I beg the Blessed Mother to share her heart for the day. Just the day. But every day I try to remember to ask.

I look forward to being intentional and following along as Elizabeth invites us to journey together~isn’t the joy in the journey?

~ Update ~

After writing this post last night and inspired by everyone else’s thoughts, I allowed joy to happen. Luke was at a late basketball game and the other kids wanted to finish up a project they were working on in the basement. I let them go at it a bit later than I normally would have but had them clean up by 8:00. After he brushed his teeth, Mark came into lay in my bed with me while we waited for the girls to say prayers.  The first “yes” was “sure, you can lay down with me while we wait”. Normally, I’d jump up and sit on his bed while we waited so as not to prolong the bedtime routine.

The next question was…”Can you read to me?” I haven’t read to him at bedtime in ages. I think the later nights with the olders and activities has made this part of the routine inconsistent at best, non-existent more like it. My response would have been “No, you wanted to stay up longer making crafts so there’s no time for books.” But having a slightly shifted perspective, I said “yes”. He went all the way to the basement for a picture book and chose “Who Owns the Sun.” A book with the perfect cadence and calm for the evening. I miss reading aloud at that time and the 4 of us squished onto my bed for the story.

Finally, we were laughing about why earlier in the day Kate was talking with a deeper voice to be funny. When she did it I was thinking she sounded like a drag queen but of course didn’t say that. So when we were making her do it again, I asked her how she came up with it. She was inspired by a “lady” which she said she wasn’t sure was really a lady on “Cake Boss”. Putting 2 and 2 together and judging by their impression of the customer, I guessed it probably was really a man. I know, I know, I should be more careful about the content (the episodes I’ve seen have all been pretty tame) and I don’t encourage the kids to make fun of people but her impression was spot on and made us all laugh. So thanks, Elizabeth for the inspiration to find joy in the everyday.