Joy to Tears

Last night, after dinner, I piled Annabelle and Benjamin into the car and headed into town to play at "gym night" open for kids of all ages. It was our first time to go, and I was looking forward to it. We parked our car outside the gym, climbed out and Annabelle became really excited and curious about the tremendous sound of music and children playing. I said, "take my hand I'll take you to the kids". She eagerly came running, took my hand and nearly skipped the whole way to the entrance. After we took our coats and shoes off and entered the gym Annabelle was beaming with delight! There were kids at her eye level, balls galore, things to jump on and to ride everywhere.

Her joy was contagious; I was moved to tears seeing the spring in her step and the huge smile glued to her face. What a gift that I could help her experience so much happiness.

Slowly, I started to realize that all the children were leaving and some kind of organized activity was beginning. I then learned that I had come in at the end of the open hour. With huge disappointment I became extremely sad that after only 3 minutes of being there I had to tell Annabelle that it was time to go. I felt like I had tricked or teased her, I was so sad.

This experience reminded me of the our Heavenly Father's love for us and how much He has created for us to experience fun, joy and pleasure. So often we only go to Him in our time of need, trouble, worry, etc., but I want to be more intentional at inviting Him into my joy, happiness, playfulness,excitement and celebrations. What a beautiful gift to share with him, as it is that "every good and perfect thing comes from Him".