Written by Erica Peck
Close your eyes and listen to the sound of a baby’s laughter. Is there any sound more pleasing to the ear that can automatically lift the corners of your mouth into a broad smile?
One of the best parts of my day is giving my boys a bath before bedtime. With my two-year-old, we have a now-standing tradition of me wrapping the towel around him, scooping him up in my arms, and walking over to the bathroom mirror, where we sing the “Frosty the Snowman” (just the first line) at the top of our lungs, all the while making funny faces, about 5 or 6 times. And then the laughter starts, and it doesn’t stop.
My six-year-old loves to make up rhymes with words, and we’ll sit just around anywhere making up silly rhymes until we’re both giggling.
Motherhood, and life, is not always full of giggles. It gets busy. Stressful. Burdensome. If all we do is dwell in how hard things are at the moment, and we don’t take the time to be silly, and find joy in the moments God gives us, we are saying “no, not right now” to the precious gift of joy He longs to give us. Can you imagine a small child saying “Nah, I don’t really want that gift you are holding out to me” to their mom or dad trying to give them one of the best gifts in the world? If we can’t even imagine a child doing that, to their earthly parent, why do we do that on a consistent basis with our heavenly Father? I believe that us accepting God’s gift of JOY gladdens His heart.
Will you accept with joy the gift He is holding out to you today? Be open to it; He freely gives with open hands. Enjoy it!