Why So Happy?

I've had some thoughts my mind has been pondering much of late. I've jotted them down here and there in a journal of sorts, but I got thinking that I needed to write them out in a more detailed form here on my blog. Maybe in my efforts to record my learnings and ponderings, someone else can be lifted.

Many friends have asked how my family and I stay so happy dispite the trial we are facing. It's a simple answer really. Jesus Christ. Because of Him, whose birth we celebrate this time of year, there is purpose to every experience, every trial, every joy.

Jill, a friend of mine here in our neighborhood, shared part of a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning entitles Aurora Leigh

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware.

These burning bushes are trials. But they are not hard times alone. They are afire with God. There is purpose to the experience. I know the reason I am here on this earth is to learn things that I could not learn any other way. My ultimate goal is to become like God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Trials, burning bushes, are opportunities to do that learning and growing. As I keep the perspective of my burning bushes, they become holy places to me. I symbolically remove my shoes, knowing that this and any other trial have a sacred purpose.

By keeping the sacred purpose in perspective, the burning bush becomes a source of growth, of greater light,of peace, and even a source of joy. The trial becomes a source of joy. Yes, I said that, a source of joy.

That is where the smile comes from. That is why we as a family can be so happy, so peaceful.

In the coming posts I will share in more detail how this is happening in our lives. I will share stories and truths that mean so much and bring this peace and joy in celebration of the birth of our Savior.