simple joys of life

June 17, 2010

So my last blog was pretty depressing and just filled with way too much anxiety & frustration. And after reflecting today and listening to a sermon on Philippians on how joy should be the mark of a Christian's life, and not worry and anxiety, I am aiming to just let go of all worries and choosing to be joyful in all things. My mom even talked to me about it today, about how really, as a Father, would not God want to see me happy and with all these blessings He's given me, how could I not be joyful and not trust confidently that if He's brought me thus far so well, would He not continue to do that into the future? What is the point of having immense scriptural knowledge, wisdom, and insight, if we go about our lives without joy and filled with worries about the future? It's quite meaningless I suppose since worrying about the future is quite meaningless.

Parents want their children to be happy, and I believe God is the same. God gives me many moments and opportunities for joy, and today was definitely one of them. Today, I got to play with my youth pastor's 5 year old son, Joseph, along with will juang and my brother. I love playing with children because they are so easily content and amused and they find joy in the simplest of things, and I am like that too. It's not like we did anything special. We made wayy too many paper airplanes, raced them to see who's would go furthest, and then ran around the kid's house pretending we were airplanes. Nothing special, maybe even boring to some people, but I had a ton of fun.

I love that children can be content and happy with such little things, and that to have fun with them, one does not need to think up elaborate plans or outings. I believe that the older we get, the more it takes to satisfy us and make us content. It gets harder to find the little joys in life when, as we grow older, all we can think of are the responsibilities that need to be kept, the decisions that need to be made, and the consequences that may follow. Playing with Joseph today reminded me of the importance of noticing and making little joys in life, of being content with what is given, and of enjoying the present moment. Joseph has no sense of time, it is but all one big blur to him, and he worries not how his future would be, neither does he think too much about his past. And I'm learning to do that too. To concentrate and appreciate the present for what it is, and not worrying about future decisions to be made, but letting those things come as they will, trusting that when I am brought to that place, only then, will God reveal to me what path it is that I am to take.

But godliness with contentment is great gain. (1 timothy 6:6)

Definitely looking forward to helping out with VBS this year :)