Winsome

Winsome is my favorite word.

It literally means {JOY} some. And who doesn't want some joy?!

But joy is a funny thing.

Funny because often the thing that brings the greatest joy . .

is the same thing that brings the deepest sorrow.

For me that thing is family.

There is nothing in this world that has more potential to bring me joy than my family.

And there is no one in the world I am more vulnerable to and therefore more potentially harmed by than my family.

If God really holds all our tears in a bottle, then well over half my bottle has filled up with tears that flowed from family.

Tears of joy.

Tears of sorrow.

I've shed a river's worth over the last two weeks.

You see my family is growing.

And growth, like change, brings joy and sorrow.

With two engagements, a son graduating and starting his military career, and two weddings impending (all in the next FIVE months), I'm realizing . .

as a new chapter begins, another ends.

Exciting doors are opening, but doors are closing too.

That's not easy on a momma's heart.

No matter how genuinely joyful I feel as I look to the future, I can't deny the sorrow I feel as chapters end and doors close on our family's past. No matter how hard I try.

It's joyful, and it's hard.

There's a part of me that wonders if acknowledging these feelings is a betrayal of the joy I feel and those whose hearts are bursting with it.

But that's not true.

Joy and sorrow can coexist.

Just like joy and pain.

Joy and stress.

Joy and fear.

Joy doesn't negate all other emotions-

joy transcends all other emotions.

~Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts

And this brings me joy.

The knowledge that true joy transcends.