Bring Back the JOY in Parenting

Bring Back the JOY in Parenting

Do you remember your first days of parenting?  Preparing to bring your bundle of joy home from the hospital.  Being sure that the car seat was in correctly.  Being totally exhausted from lack of sleep, but still smiling as you watched the baby sleeping in their crib.  Well, guess what?  Joy happens every day and in every stage of parenting.  It feels like we are on a hamster wheel getting everything done, but when we slow it all down and pause, we experience these bursts of joy.  Joy requires us to make it a choice.  A choice that we choose every day.  Recently I revisited my gratitude journal looking for inspiration for my day.  This entry spoke to the things that bring me joy and reminded me of a few lessons.

12/9/2018

Journal entry: Grateful for laughter and creative expression as I watched and danced with the boys tonight.  So grateful for memory making and the joy in the walls of our home.  Great Sunday worshiping and serving as a family. 

Kelly Ramsey

The joy of parenting gives us hope, rest, and peace.  As we move through a world that is uncertain, we can hold fast to our families and create environments that nurture their spirits.  Joy comes from somewhere deep inside of us.  It is the burst of laughter that is laying dormant and emerges as your child does something funny and expresses their true selves.  Joy is from the well of our soul.  The deep places that are awakened when we make connections, experience creative expressions, like dancing, and connect with the innermost part of who we are. I asked and answered the following question for myself several times.

  1. What brings me joy? Watching my boys play together, knowing that they are going to be two against the world and emerge victorious.  

  2. What brings me joy? Reconnecting with childhood as I put together a 100-piece puzzle and a beautiful image emerges. 

  3. What brings me joy? Baking teacakes and sharing them with friends at work and it reawakens their childhood memories of their grandma baking teacakes and the smell coming from her kitchen as they returned from school.

  4. What brings me joy?  Writing to unlock the wonder of life again and sharing my heart with others.  

  5. What brings me joy?  Friendships and feelings expressed and heard.  That brings me joy.

JOY is:              

J oining with others            

O pportunity to experience something new

Saying Y es to adventure.

Now it’s your turn, get a piece of paper and write down childhood joys you experienced.  Share the joys with your family and watch the room come alive with joy as you relive those experiences.  Joining with others and sharing a part of ourselves brings us closer together.  This is the opportunity to experience something new.  Now together create a list of the 5 things that bring you joy.  Capture the moment by taking a snapshot, be sure you’re all smiles and you can see how much that moment brought you to life.  Create a journal just to capture those everyday moments that you share with family and friends.  Say yes to adventure and enjoy your family, be restored to JOY.

Joy Issue Website update 2020 (23).png

So go ahead, everyone, and shout out your praises with joy!

Break out of the box and let loose with the most joyous sound of praise! Psalms 98:4

Joy in the Storm

Joy in the Storm

Joy!

Joy!

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