When I was young my mom brought joy from above for my brother and me. It was as if she grabbed hold of a balloon that had temporarily lost its way in the sky, bringing delight and celebration back to us.
My mom brought me joy in the hardest moments. When kids whispered around me but didn’t talk to me, I felt left out, but Mom consoled me and showed me that my heart was worth much more. Mom helped me to see what I could be thankful for as she spoke to me. I needed to possess joy and not allow others to diminish the joy the Lord put in my heart.
Now, with my daughter, I’ve passed down what I hope is a handful of hope and joy on days where balloons seem to have escaped in her childhood. I get to show her how to invite joy into her life. Children don’t always have the skills to overcome defeat, but they can take hold of joy.
We know that children can’t follow what they don’t see. As parents, we need to give them something bigger to rejoice in — not their friends, not their activities or successes, but the very goodness of Christ, who defines joy from the Father.
Recently I experienced joy shown by a 7 year old boy named Maddox. Maddox sat in church while my friends and I sang and as we did he smiled and seemed so happy…..so much that he moved closer to the front of the church. Afterwards he came to our table and spent the rest of the night in fellowship with us and sharing smiles with great conversations…….simple yet impactful moment!
How I daily grasp joy and bring it fully into our home sets the tone for how my family pivots their joy. As parents, we are joy-setters in our homes. If it doesn’t start with us, it will not trickle down to our children. Try grabbing hold of joy through the following ways:
Invite joy into your life. It is an outward expression of our inward hope in God. Make it your mission! Joy comes when we invite it in, when we see it way off in the distance and call it home.
Model the spirit of joy for the people in your life, especially your children. Joy isn’t something we decide to wear on a particular day, putting it on, and taking it off when things don’t go well. Rather, joy is a firm place in our hearts that flows through every area of our lives — what we say, what we do and how we act.
Every day, remember to make the spirit of joy the center that you frequently revisit. No one can shake your joy without your permission. Joy is rooted in rejoicing. So when we choose to rejoice in God and with God, even in short sentences, alone or with our children, the gifts of joy find their place in our hearts and minds.
Don’t wait for joy to come knocking on your door — open your heart and home to it always. It is hard for children to anticipate having joy even in disappointment. But if we are strong role models of joy, our children will see that we can welcome joy and sadness in the same breath and bless our children with words that point them to the only One who will not disappoint.
Paul wrote to the church of Thessalonica, saying to respect each other, encourage the timid, help the weak and be patient with everyone. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-15) He shared this right before the verse that says we are always to be joyful and thankful, and we are never to stop praying: “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
When our children can wake up and find us on our knees or with our Bibles open, may they know that this is indeed where our joy comes from!
In Christ, Mike/KSM