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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: JOY (10/28/21)
If I could paint a picture of joy, it might look like a variety of colors moving, dancing, skipping, swirling across the canvas of my life and often in unexpected ways. Nearly a year ago, I watched my young granddaughters draw and then spread thick layers of glue on yellow stars they cut from construction paper. With shrieks of delight, they let glitter fall from their hands onto the stars, soaking up the glue and turning the paper into a sparkling creation of art. Made with love, they did not understand fully that the stars they were making for great-grandma Peggy-Eggy, were not just for her enjoyment but that they would decorate the hospital bed we had positioned in the living room, facing the window where cardinals and swallows dipped into feeders. The time had come it seemed, for my seventy-two-year-old mother, to begin her journey away from us and towards a heavenly home. We were preparing for hospice care and with great love, we rallied together as a family making certain she would be comfortable and comforted. But, mom did not come home from the hospital as we had hoped. Her oxygen needs were too great and she would not make the ten-minute ambulance ride home. Two days later, we said goodbye and a week later, those gold stars were placed in her casket, a reminder of love.

Death separates us from those we love. It is extremely hard to say goodbye and the questions that follow after death can leave us breathless and aching. I am a bit on the other side of grieving now. It is no longer consuming me and I am able to fall asleep without crying. I can look back on moments and smile now and when I think of that day when the stars were created by two pairs of small hands, I find joy. It does not seem to fit I know, but nonetheless, here I am feeling joyful. Some might say that I write on grief too much or that my grandchildren are the only things that make me happy. I would argue, neither is true but when I was drowning in one, the other helped to rescue me.

Today, the sunrise is a beautiful combination of orange, deep red, and yellow. I smile as the sun is etched into the creation of a new day, a new beginning. Birds fly overhead and land in autumn trees. I still have blooming zinnias in November and joy reveals itself to me in a hundred other ways, if I but open the door. I can still sway my body to music and dance in the rain if I choose. Colored sprinkles on cupcakes and the smell of lavender make me smile as does a favorite shirt, playgrounds with brightly-colored slides, an infant’s belly laugh, my dog’s sigh when I tell her she has had too many treats, and watching a hummingbird at the feeder. Wind chimes, suncatchers, hammocks, a peaceful river, and the smell of sunscreen remind me of the people I love. Birthday cake, hearing someone whistle a tune, looking at memories in plastic and cloth-covered books, family dinners, hot baths, and the smell of popcorn leave me feeling content and lighthearted. Watching people hug whether for the first time or the last, is something that especially warms my heart and if I am on the receiving end, all the better.

When God created the heavens and the earth, he also created the moon, sun, and stars. He provided a way for the dark to be a little less so and with delight and awe, I look up at a clear sky with a million twinkling stars. I love to wait on meteor showers, falling stars, and colorful fireballs, of which I have seen one. My heart flutters a little in these moments and I can feel the distance that my lips have traveled to create a wide grin.

The colors of joy are indeed vibrant, and they balance out the more muted, gray shades but together they make the whole of a life that has surrendered to God and clings to Him in the beginning and end of each new day. Romans 12:12 reminds me to be “joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer.” I have come to realize that joy was never really gone, it was simply hard to see through clouded, tearful eyes.
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This article has been read 351 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Marlene MCPherson
11/04/21
This is agreat piece. It is colourful, vibrant and engaging.It has a poetic ring to it and the author has interwoven nature, the environment, and the human element in an expertly manner. Thanks for sharing your world with us.
Philippa Geaney
11/05/21
Oh my goodness. What have you word-painted here?
This is simply beautiful
Pure beautiful! ( Please excuse the poor grammar- I’m so much spinning, twirling, delighting in your work, that making sense is irrelevant).
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
11/15/21
My heart aches for your pain. I still miss my mom deeply too but have found such joy in my grandchildren. I'm sad she never met them, but I've no doubt one day they will be together. Congratulations on ranking 11th overall. The highest rankings can be found on the message boards.