I've got your nose!

Have you ever played the ,"I've got your nose, game" with a child. Seldom does it work, but yet we continue to try to convince the child that the tip of our thumb is their nose. I believe that when someone or some grief event takes our joy away, that it's still there. Where does God hide your joy? When you are grieving your joy isn't gone forever, it has simply moved to a new location. It is our responsibility to seek that joy out, I think. My joy is seeing happiness on the faces of others. And nowhere else is this manifested more than on the faces of children. 

This last weekend I went to one of my niece's birthday party. She turned two and enjoyed every minute of her party. The smiles on her face and the faces of her cousins made for a good day for me on Saturday. Add that to my Sunday morning spent with the children (especially my lap child for the day who didn't want to let me go) made for a fairly joyful weekend. 

One of the best decisions I have made was to agree to help coach a tee-ball team. Could these kids play ball without me? Of course. Could I make it through my evenings without them? Not nearly as easily. It's no secret that, if you really know me, that I adore children. I can't help but smile in their presence. And the smiles I get in return are so much greater than any I could display. At tonight's ballgame one of the boys ran up to me, hugged me, and said, "I like you." Why would he say that? Is it because I took the team for ice cream the week before? Quite possibly. Is it because I coach them on the finer points of baseball? Highly unlikely? Is it because they see how much I love them and the joy they bring me? I'm almost betting on it. 

While at the birthday party I played with my sweet Ellie and her best friend from daycare. They each slid down the big slide and said enough two year old words (and I speak kid fluently) to tell me how much fun they were having. At one time Ellie's little friend slid down the slide, came over and hugged me, then ran to the slide. She did this three times in a row. Her mom, who had never met me, looked at her little girl playing with this stranger, and I'm sure she was questioning the interaction. But my sweet sister-in-law (whom I've loved since the day she was born) told her that all kids love Uncle Kevin and followed that up later with something about the "baby whisperer." It warmed my heart to say the least. 

If you were thinking that tonight's post was going to be a sad one, then you were slightly mistaken. If you are also thinking I've turned the corner then you are 0 for 2. I know where God has hidden my joy and I'll go to that well as often as I can. Hugs are special. I like hugs. But hugs of unconditional love from a 2 year-old, well those warm the coldest heart. 

He's got my joy!