It had been a day of relaxation for the moms, and camaraderie for the kids.  Moms had shared coffee and conversation while the young ones played.  

She fell asleep on the drive home, but as we entered our neighborhood, I could not help but wake her.

Because there it was.  An untouched field full of fluffy dandelions.

The joy of the next thirty minutes will be forever etched in my mind as I watched a little girl in pink running through the field, picking and blowing dandelions to her heart’s delight. 

She didn’t stop until every last ball of fluff had been properly blown. 

Pure, innocent, giddy delight. 

That, my friends, is joy.

As believers, moments of joy await us too. 

They are best found in the company of the savior, taking in his goodness and knowing him more. 

These are the dandelion fields offered to the grown-up soul.  The soul now tasked with a million little responsibilities, cares, and concerns. 

The same soul that sometimes drives past the field, unaware of its presence. 

But Jesus beckons. 

He wants us each to know his joy and to come to him with childlike wonder.  

To call out to him with “please”s and “thank you”s.

To talk to him like the friend he is.

To trust him with our deepest cares. 

To adore him as he adores us. 

Not long ago, I hung a saying on my wall.  Penned in scrolly white letters on a board of black, it says this:

Choose Joy.

It’s a reminder to me to turn toward the place where joy comes from. To make the conscious choice to go there. 

Because sometimes I need my wall to tell me that, when my busy mind forgets. 

Or when the climate of my current life doesn’t exactly spell J-O-Y.

Psalm 37:4-5 is a well-known scripture, and for good reason.  It’s the scrolly white reminder to us all that we need to delight in the Lord.  That we need to commit everything we do to him, to trust him.  

It promises that he will give us our heart’s desires when we do just that.

It’s a promise of joy.

He gives us this promise because he knows that deep within, in all our bustling about, that’s what our hearts are really after. 

Would you take a moment today to just sit with Jesus? 

Make it a point to stare at his face with intention and purpose, to delight in the one who loves you best.

Because a heart that delights in him knows joy better than any other.

My friend, it’s your turn to be the girl in the dandelion field. 

Let him shower you today with the joy your heart desires.  

He is waiting to do just that.