Joy in the Journey
This afternoon I was pushing my one-year-old in our backyard swing. Watching her turn her eyes up to see and feel the blue sky swish back and forth, I thought about the world through her eyes. Every experience is exciting and full of wonder.
I also noted the vast amounts of mud her pants were collecting as we explored our December yard. “Hmm…will she have enough clean pants available to make it to laundry day? Oh! It’s already Thursday. Sure, she’ll make it with plenty of pants.” Sometimes life is a blur, a never-ending cycle of meal prep and cleanup, child directing and instructing, household chores and errand running.
President Thomas S. Monson’s general conference address “Finding Joy in the Journey” came to mind. “Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family,” he said.
I stood there looking at the azure winter sky and thought, “I HAVE to find joy in the journey. I must CHOOSE to find it, or I will spend each day grumpily eeking out a living.”
So here I am on New Year’s Eve, resolving to look for simple joys that are free. I will encourage my teenage son as he tries to learn social skills instead of rolling my eyes at his jokes. I will relish watching my college student making choices and some mistakes, for that is how she will learn. I will carve out time to read with my first grader because when the words click together independently, he will not want me around during his reading time any more. I will spot my budding gymnast’s back walkovers, even when she asks for help at the end of the day when I’m dead tired. I will attentively engage with my novel-writing high school student as she gushes about her new character profile. I will cheerfully complete puzzles with my preschoolers. I will stop and listen to my middle child who turns away as soon as I drop eye contact. I will help my straight-A student review her notes even though she has them memorized. I will take walks with my one-year-old, who brings me her shoes and my shoes every day. I will be grateful for good health and every infant movement I feel instead of feeling sad about my lumpy pregnant body. I will do my VERY BEST to stay awake until my husband returns home from his late meetings so I can hear about his day.
Through the divine grace of my Savior, I will become more than I am today and find joy in this journey.
