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This past weekend was my nephew Jack’s 2nd birthday and he had a “surprise” party, the surprise being they didn’t tell him so he would take a nap before everybody arrived. He was so thrilled to have so many of his friends there at the same time. As each guest arrived, he would run into the hallway, look at the front door, scream as loud as he could, and then run the opposite way down the hall (it sounds like he was terrified but he really loved it).
 
Sitting back and watching this happen over and over again, I started thinking to myself, “when was the last time that I felt such pure joy and excitement?” I honestly couldn’t think of the last time I was so excited to see somebody or do something that I screamed as loud as I could and ran away. Of course, my next thought was “why not?”


I tend to think of myself as a pretty optimistic person. I’ve always tried to look at the bright side–a glass half full kind of person. One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from Winston Churchill:       

  

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

 
I began to think about how great it would be to be Jack’s age again where the toughest decision of the day was to either watch Finding Nemo or poop my pants while I color. Then I remembered a Bible study I once did in the book of James and a few of the verses that stuck with me:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4

Dang Tina! So every time I face a trial or tribulation in my personal life or at work I should show the same excitement and pure joy that Jack did when all his friends were arriving for his party? Yes! This joy comes from knowing that my heavenly Father loves me so deeply that He not only provided me a way to spend eternity with Him after leading an imperfect life but that He is also providing me with opportunities to become the most mature and complete man that I can be in order to glorify Him. That is the true source of joy.
 
This is such a timely lesson as I am preparing for what will undoubtedly be the most difficult year of my life to date. Trials and tribulations will abound but I can confidently say that through Christ I will also experience joy to the fullest. I’ll probably lose my voice from screaming so much. Praise the Lord for all He has planned and that He can teach something so profound at a two year old’s birthday bash.