The Simplicity of Happiness

Tuesdays can potentially be the most hectic day for Ms.Em, Katrina and I. Today we got together and were all exhausted, shamefully enough, I the most cranky. We got in the car talked about how much hurt people have caused us this week, our lack of sleep and the amount of work we had to do. So I did what I do best, I fell asleep.  An hour later I woke up and we were stuck in stand still traffic on 95. We arrived to Wordsworth 45 minutes late. What a bummer. 

We eventually got upstairs to see the girls. We went to the youngest floor first. The girls were getting ready to watch a movie. One girl gave us such an attitude saying she didn’t want to do poetry. Ms Em as patient as ever started joking around with the girls and before I knew it the most resistant girl was improving poetry and songs standing on the couch, the center of attention. She was singing at the top of her lungs and reciting hilarious poetry, “roses are red, violets are blue, i have boogers”  then all the girls started giggling, so much that she never finished her poem.  The simple spirit and smile Ms Em brings to the girls challenges them to look deeper.  Needless to say, we laughed a lot tonight 

We moved down to the second floor. Some of the girls ecstatic to see us. But since we arrived so late, we couldn’t do poetry because it was bed time.  So all we were able to do was hug the girls and say hello.  There was mutual disappointment on both ends.

So we get to the car and Ms Em goes, “so that’ll make for an interesting blog post, 3 and a half hours in the car for 30 minutes of the girls. dang we show commitment”  We all just laughed

She continued to tell Katrina and I that being a consistent smile in the girls lives is more than we realize we are doing. Just going and saying hi shows the girls we care and aren’t going anywhere.  It is important they have stability in their lives.  Our effort wasn’t useless, it made a difference. The girls were happy and that is all that truly matters. 

The three of us sat in the car a bit discouraged and turned music on. We listened to Footloose and while singing and dancing together.  Then classic Ms Em started talking about something deeper than Footloose. All about happiness. How it is so important in life to be happy. And so many times we look into the darkness and think it is so difficult. If we live out the faith we say we believe in it should be easy. It is all up to us.  We should look around us daily an see the beautiful things God has created.  Once we open our eyes, joy will overflow.

I sat in the back seat listening and thought how foolish of me to be cranky, stressed and discouraged by others. How selfish it was of me to not have the girls be my first priority tonight.  I remembered how important it is to trust God and look for him everywhere. And when I look I will see and find him.  It is a choice I have to make.  When we have faith in an awesome God, happiness is a lot simpler than we realize.