Simple Things

“Joys come from simple and natural things; mists over meadows, sunlight on leaves, the path of the moon over water.”

                                                                                            –Sigurd F. Olson

Yesterday Sara made a belated Father’s Day gift for her dad–a big platter of fudge. It was a simple gift, but what fun to measure, stir, test it for doneness.  And then of course, telling her dad that it was for him. We were supposed to keep it a secret so he wouldn’t know until it was done but since he was sitting in the family room and we were only a few feet away in the kitchen, he may have gotten suspicious when he smelled something rich and chocolatey or heard wooden spoons scraping against a cast iron skillet. If Matt had searched the world over, he could not have found a better gift because with the cocoa, sugar, and milk, Sara mixed in love for her dad.

In thinking of what brings the most joy or peace and sense of well-being to me, it is always the simple things that stand out. Looking up into the blue, blue sky as daylight fades into twilight and seeing a bullbat darting here and there after insects, watching a bumblebee busy inside a hollyhock blossom, listening to my grandchildren as they play, sitting down to a meal with my family, reading the words in the Bible that tell me God loves me; these things are plain and simple but can’t be bought with any amount of money.

In Minnesota one day with my brother and sister-in-law, I looked out the window across their lake as a rainstorm was ending and the sun was breaking through the clouds. Across that lake arched a rainbow; no, not one rainbow but two. Two misty fragile arches. Beautiful and miraculous, yet simple.

Waking to a new morning, watching night give way to dawn, hearing the chorus of robins who appear to be as happy about it as I am, knowing that I have the priceless gift of another day from the Creator, all these fill me with a deep, abiding sense of joy. And I say, Thank You God, for the simple things.

 “The key to happiness belongs to everyone on earth

Who recognizes simple things as treasures of great worth.”

                                                –Author Unknown