On an ordinary Saturday morning in the fall of 2019, I was weeding my flowerbed and listening to my husband and children, who were raking leaves nearby. There flowed into my mind a quiet impression, “You are living after the manner of happiness.”

This caught me off-guard, because there was nothing remarkable about that moment or what I was doing in it. As I pondered that message, I was drawn back to Nephi, who also lived after the manner of happiness (2 Nephi 5:27). His life was far from perfect, but because he chose obedience to the Lord, he was happy in the life he lived.

I wrote most of this song alone in our chapel during the pandemic, while our foster son had visitations with his biological parents at a courthouse nearby. Like most of my music, I anticipated adding words to this song. But I discovered that my words were inadequate to describe the happiness that transcends our unique mortal experiences. As God has continued to do his work in me through adoption of that small son, older children leaving for missions and college, and breast cancer, I often come back to this wordless hymn as my touchstone: I am still living after the manner of happiness! As you listen and play this piece, I invite you to feel and remember the joy of your journey, as you choose God, especially in the face of life’s challenges.