I suspect I am getting a tad old. You see, these days I find I gain an inordinate amount of joy from the simple things in life. Of course I treasure the big, exciting events too. But how wonderful it can be to stop and truly appreciate those seemingly insignificant moments along the way!
One day last week, while in the kitchenware aisle of our local supermarket, I saw a large, metal cake cooler on special for around four dollars. Wow, I thought, it’s so much bigger and better than my old one I’ve used for all those forty-eight years of my married life. 
This one has real wire mesh, so my biscuits won’t fall through and break and my cakes won’t end up with deep indentations on them! So with great glee, I placed that cake cooler in my trolley and headed for the checkout.
Such a simple item—yet how thankful I am for it. And what fun it was too to stare at the old and new versions on our kitchen bench and laugh at myself that I hadn’t bought a new one sooner!
But there were other simple moments in my week that brought even greater joy. O
ne special delight was to notice the first beautiful bloom on a rosebush I planted in our little garden beside our balcony, not long after we moved in here. To add to my delight, this particular rose is called ‘Just Joey’. How apt, when I was so often called Joey as a child, rather than Jo-Anne!
Another day while on our balcony, I found myself staring at the leaves on the nearby gum trees as they stirred in the wind against a backdrop of clear, blue sky. And one morning, I sat amazed at the myriad of different bird sounds I could hear coming from these same trees and nearby bushland. How easily I could have brushed off these special moments, in my preoccupation with everything waiting to be done inside!
Then one afternoon, I almost missed out again on something so simple, yet so priceless. I had arrived at our youngest granddaughter’s day care centre a little early to pick her up and the children were still playing outside. For a while, I stood and watched Maxine and her little friends. But then Maxine turned around and saw me—and, for a fleeting second, the most beautiful smile of greeting lit up her face. A moment later, she had obviously decided to be all serious again and pretended to ignore me. But I had seen that smile—and I knew she was delighted I had come.
As I reflected on these events, I thanked God for them. But I wondered if God wanted to teach me an even deeper lesson. How often in my busy life do I ignore those simple yet precious truths of Scripture and forget to rest in their power to keep me in a place of peace? Truths like:
I will never leave you nor forsake you. Joshua 1:5
I have loved you with an everlasting love … Jeremiah 31:3a
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. John 14:27a
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8
So simple—yet so profound. So easy to remember—yet so often forgotten.
Such encouraging thoughts Jo-Anne – thank you! I’m back to work this week after holidays and into all the busyness again so your reminder to pause, notice and cherish the simple things along the way is very timely 🙂
Thinking of you, Kerry, as you begin another term. And thanks for your comments, in the midst of everything else you need to do!
Beautiful post of thanksgiving, Jo-Anne. Reading it just now was a blessing to me, too. Though I didn’t see Maxine’s smile, touch the petals of the Rose, or even exclaim over your bargain cake rack, I didn’t need to, because it touched my heart.
Wow, thanks for those lovely comments, Deirdre–very encouraging. This is why I keep writing blogs, because you never know when someone’s heart will be touched in this way. God bless!
Thanks for those thought, Jo. When I look back over my life, I find it’s often the simple things that brought the most joy (e.g. a lovely view or a bird that came and sat on my window sill). Even when we take time out (e.g. to walk the dogs or go visit someone), it’s easy to still be thinking of everything we have to do. Sometimes it really is best to just stop and smell the roses and remember that God gives us those little moments of wonder too. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, I agree with all your comments, Nola! I have just come back from having coffee with a friend and we realised that we were so engrossed at one stage in what we were talking about that we were entirely missing out on the lovely view of a little lake in front of us with children feeding ducks nearby. So we stopped and looked! I love that phrase ‘little moments of wonder’ you have used too–that’s exactly right. So thanks, Nola.
Hi Jo-Anne,
You know, it’s the simple things that we often miss as you said, and yet they are the ones that bring joy to our day:)
Blessings Lyn
So true, Lyn. And lovely to hear from you too! God bless.