joie de vivre!

dear  emily,

one of my chief regrets in raising my flock is that i worried too
much about doing it well and not enough about doing it with
joy.  is there another word that makes your heart lift like that
little one?

recently, i read a darwin quote, in which he bemoaned that
he couldn't enjoy a line of poetry, shakespeare, art, or music
like he did "up to the age 30...the loss of these tastes is a loss
of happiness and possibly injurious to the intellect, and more
probably to the moral character..."

when i am 90, i want to giggle with my great grandchildren as
we wiggle our toes in cold, bubbly streams.  i hanker for many
hikes to the top of green hills and endless stacks of books to
devour.  i yearn to sing the "hallelujah chorus, hitting all the
high notes and have youngsters ask, "how does she sing like
that at her age?"

my hero, c.s. lewis says that "the whole of man is to drink
from the fountain of joy...like the feeling a child has when
he awakens in the morning to realize it is the beginning of
summer!"

john piper maintains that the "chief end of man is to glorify
God BY enjoying Him forever."  we have let the stoics and
kant bully us into believing happiness or joy are selfish.

life sends me hardship, pain, and loss.  i have had to sacrifice
beloved possessions and people.   but i choose not to dwell
there.

i am content that "...though i do not see Him, i believe in
Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible!"
1 peter 1:8

love,
lea