Joy

Have you ever witnessed joy? Surely you know the type I’m talking about; when you see it you can’t help but smile. I was out yesterday doing some grocery shopping and was by myself, which does not happen too often, I was fortunate to witness joy. It was just a moment in my day, didn’t take long, but it stuck with me. There have been many times that I have been able to witness joy, this time it was from a perfect stranger, someone I have never seen before and don’t even know.

Here is how it went. I was just about to get into the check out line, and I was going over my list to make sure I had gotten everything, when from behind me I heard a high pitched girly scream. I turned to see what was going on and where it was coming from, up the isle I could see this little blonde headed girl, only about 3 ft tall she was jumping up and down looking at her father and pointing at a large box and expressing her joy at watermelons. Yep, she was so joyful that they had watermelons in the store that she could not contain herself. I was very thankful that she could not contain herself. It was a moment that allowed me to reflect on many occasions that I have witnessed joy in my own family. Not to say it’s all perfect, but there have been many times that genuine joy has broken out in our home and what a wonderful site.

An environment that fosters true expression of the heart is a challenge, as fathers we are looked to for approval during our child’s life. From the small Lego creation to the winning score or even the hard worked for grade. Our ability to strengthen our relationship with our family can be joyful, not always of course, but joy should be a part of our home, and it is another one of things that I am always working to improve. Proverbs 17:22 “A joyful heart is good medicine . . . “