Monday, January 2, 2012

Joyful Parenting ~ Day 2

2. Today I will transfigure all things into beauty, and I will refuse to see anything else.

This one was difficult for me. I am not an overly negative person. Typically, I am a “glass half full” kind of girl, but it’s not always easy, as a mom, to find the beauty in the juice spilled on the kitchen floor or the chocolate stains on the couch. We can’t always see the artistry in the masterpiece drawn on the bedroom wall or the loveliness of the finger prints on the windows. Temper tantrums of toddlers don’t always sound like a symphony to our ears and the arguments of brothers and sisters are far from the sounds of sonnets recited. The endless strings of “Mom, I need ….” never seem to make us catch our breath in wonder and awe but there is beauty to be found in each one if we choose to see it.

The juice may have been spilled by a six year old now independent enough to pour her own drink when the doctors said that she would never live, much less walk. The chocolate stains may be from a little boy with growth issues who now taking in more than is required calories for the day thanks to some Nestle Quick. The masterpiece on the bedroom wall may be better than any poster you could have offered the 10 year old boy to decorate his room because he is incredibly gifted. The fingerprints on the freshly washed windows may be from a girl who can’t stand to miss a moment of what is going on with the animals outside.

There is a precious beauty in it all.

Find the Ann Voskamp's complete Parenting Manifesto of Joy here.

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