Powered by Joy

There are moments in life that change you…for good. These moments can be horrible.

The phone rings. You’re panic-shopping for your 4th of July party. You almost don’t answer – you’re just so busy. It’s your dad calling to say he has cancer.

Weeks later, you’re desperately trying to get the laundry put away so the kids have something to wear this week. Again, the phone rings. Again, you don’t have time to chat. It’s news that a dear friend, a father of 2 year old twin girls, dove into a lake and broke his neck.

There are moments when you realize how little control you have over things. Thousands of fans waiting to enter a football stadium surge against you as you hold one of your children and try to shield the other. You know you can’t pick the other child up without getting trampled.

And then…. Then there are the moments that you can’t believe. Those moments you're afraid to wish for. The cancer isn’t in the lymph nodes or the bones. The spinal cord’s intact and there’s sensation in a thumb. A beautiful stranger on your left sweeps up your son while three lovely, powerful ladies on your right holler out and push back the crowd creating just the space you need to get out of the crush. These are the moments you realize that there are reasons to celebrate. There is good in this world. There is reason for joy.