Simple pleasuresFulfilled expectations can be delightful, but sometimes the unexpected surprises bring simple pleasure.

I wrote recently about expectations, such as hanging a hummingbird feeder and expecting visitors to come to it.

A few days later, a female actually showed up, and we were delighted. She’s been back several times since.

In the same time period, we had several other simple delights, some anticipated, some unexpected:

  • One of the baby robins from the nest over our front light made its way safely to the back deck.
  • A major thunderstorm drew some magnificent lightning strokes across the skies over the cornfield behind our house.
  • The next day, over the same cornfield, we saw a full rainbow.
  • Multi-colored spring flowers and purple lilac bushes dot the landscape.
  • We FaceTimed with our now 3-year-old granddaughter and sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
  • We got to attend a piano recital for two of our grandsons.
  • A colorful male pheasant greeted us along the side of the road.

A line from an old hymn from childhood comes to mind: “Count your many blessings, name them one by one.”

Seems like it’s easier to focus on the disappointments in life than it is the small, everyday joys. But focusing on those sometimes-insignificant blessings–and realizing how they all add up–makes life worthwhile. Because it’s these things that remind us how much God loves us:

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26, ESV).

Take time this week to enjoy the simple pleasures, whether expected or surprising.