What Makes You Scream?

There are those special moments in life that we all get to experience that are truly, as the commercial says, priceless. As a parent or grandparent those moments come while watching your child or grandchild grow up. Last week we were able to have one of those special days that I will never forget.

Several months ago, Tami (Mimi) found out the circus was coming to town and was able to secure tickets for all of us to go. The day before, we began asking Brynley if she wanted to go to the circus, and the fun part of asking questions of a 20-month-old little girl is you never know what the answer is going to be. If she is in a good mood and it sounds exciting, the answer is yes. If she is a little tired or it doesn’t sound exciting, the answer is no. Well, it must have sounded exciting because she answered us with a yes. We began talking about seeing the elephants, tigers, and clowns. It all sounded good to her. Saturday afternoon we headed out to the circus and made our way to our seats.

Once inside the arena we had some of the best seats available to watch a circus. Brynley was excited even though I don’t think she really knew what was about to happen. She had her face planted on the glass in front of us watching events below unfold. Then it happened—towards the end of the opening the elephants made their way into the arena, and it took a few moments for Brynley to see them, but when she did she let out a scream of excitement. Her full attention was drawn to them as she pressed her nose to the glass. At that moment the heart of a grandfather melted because he understood that the most precious moments in life involve bringing joy to those God brings into your life. During the next two hours we heard five of those screams and every time it brought a big smile to all of our faces.

I hope that I never forget the lesson that Brynley reminded me of that afternoon. Every day I live, surrounded by an amazing family and a great church that I’m allowed to lead, I need to do whatever I can to help bring that “scream of joy” into their lives. A simple act of kindness, like going to a circus for Brynley, can bring great joy to somebody else. You don’t have to have a lot to show kindness but can simply find something that will fill a need in someone else’s life and fill that need. I’ve been blessed throughout my life to have so many people who have given me those “screams of joy” moments, and I want to honor God by doing the same.