Rejoicing in the Lord Always

Through the trees, I hear something beautiful.

Children's laughter, shouts, happiness in pure music and joy. Like the very expression of true life summarized in melodic noise. With the singing of the birds, traffic on distant winds, people coughing, walking, living, this noise rises above, and it's music, and it's beautiful. Beside a hospital's hard, white walls and beyond the masked faces and long days, the playground erupts in that noise.

I see something beautiful too.

A dozen colors. Every shirt different, the shades and hues like a rainbow but curving in arches as the children rise up, swing down, rise again.

Legs pump, tiny fists clench, heads thrown back. Their hair flies, more laughter, more screams. They swing a dozen times and then again, again, forever, and "push me higher!" That girl in pink, still holding on as others slip away and go inside. She tries to pump herself higher. Curly, brown hair, still swinging, lower and lower. She doesn't seem to notice, to care, because she's still flying like the stars.

The skies are darker now. Rain will fall, and it will be cold and wet and fierce. But I hear those children, see the colors, and it's the rainbow in this coming storm.

There are no masks. No worries about germs and dumping on hand sanitizer. It's early morning, so they play.

The girl with a red bow in her sweeping, blond hair.

The child swinging so low I can't see him above the rise of the ground.

The one crying, picked up, and running again.

And still, that first girl I saw, the one in pink, she's a bird flying back and forth and singing with her laughter.

I see it all, and I will remember it forever.

I will remember what joy sounds like. I will remember how the masks were thrown off because life was too beautiful to hide from. I will remember the sunshine of their smiles amidst the upcoming rain. I will never forget how that hospital with hard walls listened to the children laughing, and somehow it was more beautiful too, marble.

And I will be like those children. I will laugh and play and not just say God is good but believe it. Live in it.

Rejoice always, He says, and I rejoice.

You are loved, His promises, and they're true.

I will never leave you, my hope.

I'm not scared of corona or this storm or what tomorrow may bring, because I'm too busy playing on the swings and rejoicing in Jesus.

Somehow, that seems more like life than the one we know.

He has made everything beautiful.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

- Proverbs 3:5-6

The girl in pink is gone. Maybe she's on the jungle gym now, dancing and climbing to the squeaks of the swings. Seats flying, hinges scraping metal, and I love the sound.

Wind, cool. Leaves with points and patterns like snowflakes; I wonder if any two of them are exactly alike?

A million gifts and beauties, and we rejoice.

The Lord has done great things for us,

And we are glad. 

- Psalm 126:3

~♥~