Book Report: Surprised by Joy

My beloved Anne Lemott mentioned a quote by C.S. Lewis in Surprised by Joy, his closest to an autobiography:

While I do most everything Anne tells me to do, I asked myself many times during this snoozefest of an audiobook, "Why am I reading this?". And then, bam, one of my favorite quotes of all time.

C.S. Lewis' childhood perception of adulthood: "Incessant drudgery under the threat of financial ruin."

This quote became a battle cry of sorts for me. While I will continue to parrot almost daily real truths to my kids about life. 

"It is not fair." 

"When we're so focused on what others have, it robs us of being grateful what we do have." 

"God doesn't promise us an easy life, only that we won't be alone in the hard stuff." 

Yes, there is drudgery. Yes, there can be financial ruin. But there are also:

Unicorns

Learning how to avoid getting arrested

S'mores

Stockbrot (literally stick bread)

Bouncy Mounds

And that's just all in one church retreat weekend. Parents - model that joy. Otherwise, your kids might turn out to be C.S. Lewis.