Something I’ve been thinking about lately is just how fleeting life is. This year, we pretty much just blinked, and it’s over. The older I get, the shorter each year seems. At our last All-Staff Devotions, I shared about how we need to remember that life is short. We need to “redeem the time,” as we are reminded throughout the Bible. We never know when it may be the last time that we get to do something or to see someone.
Last week during the Middle School Musical, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, the kids sang a song that I also sang way back in elementary school. The show came out in 1967, when I was in the fourth grade. The song is called Happiness. The cast of the play are all little kids, so their perspective may be a bit different than ours today, but becoming like a child to see things for the delight that they really are is so important. Soon after this came out, a little comic was in the newspaper each week with different ideas of what happiness means to people. My mother used to cut them out for me, and by the time I went to college, I had a whole box full of these sayings. I would color the picture and give them to people as a means of encouraging them.
Today, as you enjoy the words of this song, I encourage you to be thankful for the little things that happen every day that you can celebrate.
Happiness is finding a pencil, pizza with sausage, telling the time.
Happiness is learning to whistle, tying your shoe for the very first time.
Happiness is playing the drums in your own school band,
And happiness is walking hand in hand.
Happiness is two kinds of ice cream, knowing a secret, climbing a tree.
Happiness is five different crayons, catching a firefly, setting him free.
Happiness is being alone every now and then,
And happiness is coming home again.
Happiness is morning and evening, daytime and nighttime, too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you!
Happiness is having a sister, sharing a sandwich, getting along.
Happiness is singing together when day is through.
And happiness is those who sing with you
Happiness is morning and evening, daytime and nighttime, too.
For happiness is anyone and anything at all that’s loved by you!
Because of His Faithfulness,
Sharon C. Brobst, Ed.D.
Director
PS. I still love ice cream, crayons, singing together, and having a sister!