A Spring of Joy

It wasn’t anything spectacular. In fact, in some people’s eyes, it might have seemed a waste of a night together.

The kids were tucked in bed, and Bri and I curled up on the couch with Rocky Road Ice Cream and coffee from the French Press and we turned on the Emmy Awards. It was unintentional. We had planned to watch something else, but Jimmy Fallon and Tracy Morgan sucked us in. I could comment on how vapid it was or about some of the absurdly ridiculous choices in gowns or the unbelievable amount of ego in the room, but that wasn’t what it was about. At least not for us.

For us it was laughing together at the occasional hilarity and marveling at the brilliance of script writers. It was chatting about our life and the things we are doing at work. It was sharing stories about the kiddos from the weekend and reveling in the joy they bring to our life. It was another political discussion as Bri ranted and raved, and me learning yet again what a brilliant man I’m married to. It was crying through the In Memorium segment as I reflected on what people like Andy Griffith brought into my life and just how short that life is. It was sitting in stunned sadness as we read how a friend of Brian’s from before college lost his wife far too early and unexpectedly, and then cheering for friends who were at the hospital for the arrival of their next child.

It was a mix of life in front of a TV show that many would say was a waste of time. And perhaps you could say the TV show was.

Had we watched the movie we planned to, we wouldn’t have had the time for all of this. Two and a half hours of just. being. together. Us. Sharing life.

And that is what it was all about.

Thank you, Lord, for Rocky Road ice cream and hand ground coffee beans. Thank you for laughter and humor and the gifts you have given to men and women in the film industry to bring us some beautiful work. Thank you for children who brighten our lives, for the work you have called us to, for a country with many freedoms we take for granted. Thank you for quiet moments together in grief and for the joy of new life. Thank you for each breath. This life we live together is not always easy, but it is beautiful.