This last Christmas and New Years has been one of the most happiest times for many friends and family. My Facebook feed was filled with announcements of engagements, pregnancies and wonderful achievements, that would bless these lovely people this coming year being 2018. One of the announcements made me feel a little old, because one was made by a gorgeous girl I taught in Sunday School! She and her hubby will be having their first baby this year. My goodness, how fast do the years go by!
It’s exciting times for those families and I’ve enjoyed, watching from the sidelines, as the announcements were made. Our extended family on the Senyards and Jones’ sides also had an engagement and pregnancy announcement, respectively. It’s been wonderful. It’s such a beautiful time of year to do it too, when friends and family are gathered for Christmas and holidays.
I remember what it felt like when Jacob and I announced this time, 8 years ago, when we were pregnant with Esther. It was an exciting yet apprehensive time because we had just had the Global Financial Crisis, and dad and I had just changed our plumbing business to do more residential maintenance. I was excited about becoming a mum, but I just wasn’t sure how work and having a baby was going to work out. But we did it. We worked it out.
Whenever announcements are made, I generally feel happy and sometimes overjoyed with the news. But there have been times where I haven’t been as happy because of any number of reasons.
It could be because the person has done something hurtful to me, therefore they don’t deserve this moment of happiness… or it could be because of my own lack in life. Jealousy and comparison of one’s life moment to another, has lead me down a path to think negatively about my own situation.
I know I’m not the only one that struggles with this.
Just look at the news today and people aren’t happy that Chip and Joanna Gaines are pregnant with their 5th child. So many people aren’t happy about the good news of others.
It’s a human nature thing that needs to be pounced on the moment the thoughts rush into our mind, because we should be happy for others when good things happen to them. And just because they are experiencing awesome things in their life, doesn’t mean we never will again. If the coin was flipped, wouldn’t we want our friends and family to be happy for us when good things are happening in our own lives?
2017 was a year of learning for me. I mentioned it briefly in my round up post for 2017. It was a year of learning about human nature at its worst and at its finest. As a result, I discovered some parts of myself that still need to be worked on. I am a work in progress.
But there were a few things I did learn, and one was how to be happy for others when it was their moment. I learned that being happy for someone is a choice. If it’s not my immediate default reaction, I have a choice to think differently. I also learned, once I refocused on my path and purpose, it was much easier to be happy for the success or announcements of others because their joy experience was simply part of the path of their journey.
The third thing I learned was once I was happy for them, I felt my own spirits rise. Celebrating others allows us to rise as well.
So the next time you feel down about someone going on holiday, announcing they got their dream job or you read yet another Facebook announcement of a couple expecting a baby, think the best and be happy. Genuinely happy. Because heaven is bountiful in joyful moments that we will all get to experience at one time or another. We’re not going to miss out.
We have a wonderful saying at our church that I believe in wholeheartedly, and it’s this ‘The Best is Yet to Come’. And I believe it for myself and for you too.
If you enjoyed this post, you might like
When You Know You’ve Got to Make a Change