As part of the Advent season, the Mount community participated in a group lectio and reflection supper last night. One question posed was: what brings you joy? Seems easy enough, right? I can imagine some responses if you were to ask a few people I know. The answers might go a little something like this: snow days, playing X-Box, canceled classes, the end of the school year, money, etc. But let's look at the question again. What really brings joy to your life? Are there any experiences you are having right now that are joyful? Sometimes you have to look beneath the surface.
What brings joy to my life? Most importantly right now are my kids at the day care. I cannot express to you the enormous smile that must spread across my face when I walk into my classroom each morning and see several smiling, excited faces staring back at me, and inevitably, one or two stop what they are doing to run up to hug you. For all of the moments of frustration and defiance, and for all the tantrums, these little moments far outweigh any of that. In fact, they are anything but little. When you look forward to going to work each morning, when it doesn't feel much like work anymore, that is pure joy, at least for me.
The support I have of my family and several of my friends as I journey through this year also gives me great joy. You really need those special people in your life to be there cheering you on as you go through something that is indeed an adventure and very exciting and meaningful, but is not always the easiest thing to do. I have those special people, plus an extended family of almost 100 Sisters who are always here for support when things might not always go as planned, or when things get rough. It also brings me joy to return the favor and pay it forward.
So now I ask all of you out there: What brings YOU joy?
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