Joy

A few weeks ago, I took both boys to church by myself. It was a feat that required AJ's maturity to sit in a pew by himself for large portions of Mass while I was busy making friends throughout the entire church with Teddy. It happened to be Gaudete Sunday, which celebrates joy. I heard enough of the homily that it resonated soundly with me.

The first takeaway for me was that the version of Gaudete means to rejoice in the command form. It's not an option only when we feel like it but a command to find the joy always. Not just when things are easy. Not just when your child sits nicely through church. Not when everything is great. Instead, always find what is great in everything and rejoice in that.

The second, though, that really hit home was the quote from Pierre Teilard de Chardin:

"Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God."

One of the things that we've found in common with other parents of CDG-PIGN kiddos is the extreme happiness of our children. They are the most exuberantly happy children (unless they aren't, of course). In fact, one of the girl's nickname is Joyful Julia.

If you know Teddy, you know what I'm talking about. That ear-to-ear grin with dimples all the way simply because he embraces the happiness of the moment, whether that's seeing someone he loves, sharing the fun of something incredible (like his toy vacuum) with another person or doing something incredible like playing with AJ, rolling around with me, being tickled by Dave or something else that others might find ordinary. Teddy lives life fully with joy.

So I nearly teared up in church as I snuggled Teddy (to hold him still for just a moment) and said, "That's you, buddy. You're proof of God's presence every day."

And then I missed the rest of the homily because we had an usher we had to go visit. But at least I heard enough.