Fight For Happiness

Old seemed so far away.


I was on vacation. Laying in the sand, soaking up the sun, listening to the waves. Getting browner by the minute, and loving every second of it. I took my young body for granted. Never worrying about what I ate or didn’t eat, never worried about joints aching or not being able to open jars. Never worried about wrinkles or skin cancer.
Those thoughts never once entered my mind.
Yes I took life for granted.


And then I had a few kids, and pretty soon I realized these kids really, truly needed me. I loved them with an ache that could not be compared to anything I’d ever experienced. And suddenly, I was worried about skin cancer and what I ate or didn’t eat.
As I lifted each child,
as I hauled a baby around on my hip that supported a pregnant belly above it,
I no longer took that body for granted.
I lathered on sunscreen and wrinkle cream.
I took vitamins and ate healthier.
I spent more time in God’s word instead of magazines with beautiful models on their covers. I began to see things differently as each year went by.


Pretty soon my arms and hands were lifting boxes as each child moved into their new homes. I was unpacking kitchen utensils and bathroom necessities for them. I was helping hang pictures and making up beds in their new bedrooms.
Bedrooms that were no longer above me upstairs.
And later in the evening I was rubbing medicinal cream on achey joints and back muscles.
I was missing them.


And I was remembering.
I was remembering a young 20 year old basking in the sun. Unpacking boxes in her new apartment. Welcoming each child into her heart and home, and taking so much for granted.


And I whispered thank you to Jesus.


Because I never really realized all He gave me, and I took so much of it for granted.


I determined that I no longer would.


And I was watching my dad before he passed. How slowly he moved. How hard it was for him to see like he used to.
How easily he tired.
And yet, he still smiled. He still laughed.
He still enjoyed life.
And I felt young again.
And I knew that every day would be a gift. Every day would hold beauty.
Every day would be a day I would look back on with either happiness or sorrow,
and every day I would fight for that happiness.


And I would tell you~
don’t take it for granted.


Cherish every single minute of every single day and thank Jesus for it, because it goes by so quickly. Thank God for your young self. Don’t take your body for granted. Thank God for that body and all it’s able to do. Thank God for His word and the wisdom it gives you each and every day. Thank God for your children and for achey joints and backs, because you were able to help them. Because they still needed you.
Thank God that you miss them~
because He gave you so much beauty to miss.


Thank God and don’t ever take another minute of another day of your beautiful life for granted again.