It is well with my soul

At this point in my life I have grown to appreciate many things that I formally took for granted... today was one of the days that I was able to appreciate a lot of things. I woke up, after going to bed around midnight (this was an early night for me!) to find the sun shining in on and house quiet. I smell coffee and discover that my little one have made me coffee. Natalie is washing the dishes and says, "I came into your room and saw you asleep so I decided to surprise you." The rest of the day was for the most part great. We were able to finish school, wash laundry, make a trip to the post office, go grocery shopping and have time to paint some shells on the back porch. Days like this it is easy to be grateful.

The problem comes on the days that are not like this one. When you wake up to kids fighting, a messy house and you just know that there is no way that you are going to get all the things done that you need to. It's a lot easier to be appreciative when life is easy. My mom would always tell us that it is easy to obey when she would tell us to go get some ice-cream, but harder when she would tell us to go clean our rooms. This is sort of how a joyful attitude is, we can be content when we are getting what we want, but the moment things are not easy we revert back to our 5 year old self saying, "I want... and I want it now!"But that is not what joy is. Joy is an ever-present position, it is unchanging based on circumstances.

Whenever I think of joy, I instantly think of Horatio G. Spafford. He is the author of one of my favorite hymns "It is well with my soul". This song is so uplifting... but the story behind it is not. It started when his only son died from scarlet fever, then the Chicago fire destroyed all his investments, then his wife and 4 daughters left for Europe a few days before him on a streamliner, the boat sank and only his wife survived. The song was written after all this happened. The song was written in dispair and yet he was saying it is well with my soul. How I long for that kind of joy!

1. 
   
   When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
   When sorrows like sea billows roll;
   Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
   It is well, it is well, with my soul.
   • 
     
     It is well, with my soul,
     It is well, it is well, with my soul.
2.