JOY

 

Can you even stand the cuteness of this chubby boy with his little crossed feet!!

He caught three fish at his great grandpa's house and was so excited. 

I was listening to a podcast and rereading the talk from Elder Uchtdorf on joy and I loved so much about it and made me think a lot today.  First off these pictures bring me joy.  I sure love my grandchildren and it is so weird how your heart just expands for these little ones.  Grey was so excited to learn to ride without his training wheels.  He has been a bit hesitant but we bought him a scooter and he was getting so good at balancing that Rick told him if he could do that he could ride his bike.  The kicker was that I told him that perhaps Ivy was going to get ready to learn without her training wheels and he was like what? how old is she and I said she will be four soon.  This boy is so competitive that he said as he ran into the house to get shoes, Poppa get those wheels off before I get back!  And off he went.  He rode it so easy and he was so proud of himself and his little beaming face was the best. JOY

Then one sister said that when her grandpa died the grandma just was having a hard time and just didn't want to get out of bed. But one day she got up and wrote 31 things that bring her joy and each month she would do that thing on that day.  Some of the things were read a good book, buy fresh flowers, eat an ice cream cone, call one of my children, write a letter, learn the lyrics to a song, just things that brought her joy and she did that thing that day each month- month after month and that became her pattern of joy seeking or light gathering as was mentioned in the talk.  I love his line that "we rarely find something we are not looking for). 

Elder Uchtdorf uses a flying analogy about the Wright brothers father. Orville finally convinced his 82 year old father to fly.  He was so caught up in the exhilaration of the flight that all fear left him!  Do I have that same exhilaration of the gift that living this life and having the chance to become like my Heavenly parents is or do I get bogged down in the day to day and forget to see the wonder.  They compared it to being on a plane and in six hours being in Italy but complaining about the seat belt.  The wonder of being in a different country in just a few short hours because of the magic of flying should overshadow all else.  I want to live that way and to see the joy and wonder in the everyday moments because they are a gift from God.