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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Happy (07/12/07)
"Don't be sad!"


Baby Angie loved playing with her papa. She sat in her highchair at the breakfast table and the two of them "made faces" back and forth with each other. The game generated delightful laughter from both of them.

Papa illustrated words with facial expressions, and daughter followed suit. He would pass his hand down his face to reveal a sad, pouting countenance and say:

"Be sad."


Then he would slide the same hand up over his face, exposing a smiling expression:

"Be happy!"


My brother and his firstborn explored fun ways of teaching and learning.


One cold wintry day I tagged along with my pregnant sister-in-law to run errands. Angie in her car-seat in the back was just fine, until her mom got out of the car. It would just be a quick stop, but Angie was too little to realize it. Apparently feeling abandoned, she began to cry.

I turned around to console her. "Oh, Honey, don't be sad! Be happy!"

She stopped crying mid-sob, as I repeated my brother's facial demonstration. "Be happy," I smiled at her.

She looked at me and a mischievous grin touched the corners of her mouth.

"No," she said, "Be sad!"

And so, we were all smiles and giggles by the time her mama returned to the car.


Ordinary life isn't just all happy, or just all sad. Life envelopes us in a hodgepodge of comedy and tragedy all mixed together at once. We can misunderstand a situation, and grieve unnecessarily. We can be the one to bring understanding and joy to bear, and lift someone's sad heart. And, we can determine to always seek the joy of the Lord, which is our strength, no matter the circumstances of the moment.

Some might call that being a "cockeyed optimist." I prefer to think of it in the words of Jesus:
"These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye may have peace. In the world ye have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

Now, that's the bottom line on "happy" for me.

----------------------
quotation from John 16:33 American Standard Version
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This article has been read 1432 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Joanne Sher 
07/21/07
Very much enjoyed the lesson here - and I loved your second-to-last paragraph. Keep writing!
Mariane Holbrook
07/22/07
That's such a lovely story! I can visualize that little tyke playing that game and having learned it so well that it came handy when it was needed. Just as the first person to comment said, I was very impressed with the next to the last paragraph because it showed great spiritual depth and perception. The application you made was right on target.I'm convinced that Jesus came to bring us "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Who has more reason to be happy than Christians? A very well-written piece indeed.
Lynda Schultz 
07/23/07
I love the illustration — all of us have probably played this game (or had someone play it with us when we were kids), so we could relive the experience as we read. Sad happens, but the joy of the Lord embaces it and softens its edges. Nice work.
Pam Carlson-Hetland
07/24/07
I, too, loved the illustration. I liked the phrase that we can misunderstand the situation and grieve unnecessarily. Many can attest to that. But you have brought us back to our only true source of happiness and that is Jesus Christ. Great writing. Thanks for sharing that.
Linda Watson Owen
08/18/07
Oh, Edy, what a golden touch you have in writing devotionals! This is such a delight and so inspiring! Yes, I too could just SEE this being played out...Be sad!...Be happy! You've really captured the basic truth of real life here...a mixture of both within God's Hands on our lives. Wonderful, Edy! Thank you!!