Yes, I took the kids to McDonalds. (No one pass out…I know it goes against my own rules of what is healthy.) We went to a homeschool roller skating event, and we decided to join the lunch fun. However, I am not writing to debate healthy eating…I found the new “Happy Meal” bags quite interesting and convicting.
The caption on the side reads “Excellent Source of Happiness”. As we were eating our lunch, I looked at my kids smiling faces and could see “happiness”. They have had a fun morning…no school, playing with friends and now eating junk.
There is a new song out by Steven Curtis Chapman titled, Cinderella. I love the line in it that says “'Cause I know something the prince never knew”. The point of the song is to take opportunities, “Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight”. Today was an opportunity to break from our routine and have fun…make a memory before the clock strikes…
However, I would be a poor mother indeed if my only goal was to see that my kids were happy. The world would have us believe that if we simply fill ourselves with things, people and activities that make us happy we will be fulfilled. When in reality “happiness” is fleeting. There is only one thing that brings lasting joy and that comes from being filled with Christ.
I often say to my kids, “I’m sorry you are not happy right now, but mommy is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness.” At 6 ½ and almost 5, I am obviously still working thru what I mean by that statement. I am “filling” a filing cabinet in their moral warehouse of what it means to respond in love, have joy, be at peace, walk with patience, show kindness, do what is right and good, remain faithful, show self-control, etc. I am training what it means to walk by faith.
How? Well, not successfully all the time because the best teacher is “action”, and I must confess that my response to life is not always the fruit of the spirit. We have all heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”. I truly believe that “actions” precede “beliefs” in children. To get my children to respond in love & self-control and believe that it is the best response, they need to see that action “played out” in me.
Which brings me to my above mentioned conviction…How am I responding right now to the circumstance that God has our family in? I would love to say that I desire holiness and not just happiness, but I confess I sometimes lack faith and start looking for an “excellent source of happiness” off the road that I know God has called us to walk. Especially right now, when it would seem we have been doing a lot more “standing around” waiting than walking.
Thankfully, His mercies are new every morning, and He is faithful to gently remind me – even by way of McDonalds – that He is my true source of Joy. I do not want to be found anywhere else but following His road for my life.
Find Joy Today!
AT
The caption on the side reads “Excellent Source of Happiness”. As we were eating our lunch, I looked at my kids smiling faces and could see “happiness”. They have had a fun morning…no school, playing with friends and now eating junk.
There is a new song out by Steven Curtis Chapman titled, Cinderella. I love the line in it that says “'Cause I know something the prince never knew”. The point of the song is to take opportunities, “Cuz all too soon the clock will strike midnight”. Today was an opportunity to break from our routine and have fun…make a memory before the clock strikes…
However, I would be a poor mother indeed if my only goal was to see that my kids were happy. The world would have us believe that if we simply fill ourselves with things, people and activities that make us happy we will be fulfilled. When in reality “happiness” is fleeting. There is only one thing that brings lasting joy and that comes from being filled with Christ.
I often say to my kids, “I’m sorry you are not happy right now, but mommy is more concerned about your holiness than your happiness.” At 6 ½ and almost 5, I am obviously still working thru what I mean by that statement. I am “filling” a filing cabinet in their moral warehouse of what it means to respond in love, have joy, be at peace, walk with patience, show kindness, do what is right and good, remain faithful, show self-control, etc. I am training what it means to walk by faith.
How? Well, not successfully all the time because the best teacher is “action”, and I must confess that my response to life is not always the fruit of the spirit. We have all heard the phrase “actions speak louder than words”. I truly believe that “actions” precede “beliefs” in children. To get my children to respond in love & self-control and believe that it is the best response, they need to see that action “played out” in me.
Which brings me to my above mentioned conviction…How am I responding right now to the circumstance that God has our family in? I would love to say that I desire holiness and not just happiness, but I confess I sometimes lack faith and start looking for an “excellent source of happiness” off the road that I know God has called us to walk. Especially right now, when it would seem we have been doing a lot more “standing around” waiting than walking.
Thankfully, His mercies are new every morning, and He is faithful to gently remind me – even by way of McDonalds – that He is my true source of Joy. I do not want to be found anywhere else but following His road for my life.
Find Joy Today!
AT
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