How Often Do We Overlook the Simple Joys in Life?

We were rushed this morning. Like most mornings, I helped my toddler get dressed, brushed his hair, and put his fluffy, blue coat in daddy’s car for school—all while his baby sister cried in the background. Hair tousled in a messy bun on my head, I reached in the pantry and looked for a quick breakfast bite.

“There—the chocolate chip granola bar!” my son exclaimed. He had been eyeing that box with the Quaker Oats man for days. I grabbed the sugary breakfast treat and handed the bar to him while fastening him in his car seat.

“Thank you, Mommy!” he shouted. His eyes were full of such joy. He had been waiting to eat that granola bar for days. Just holding that sticky, sweet treat elated my sleepy boy. He touched the chocolate chips wedged in the cereal and smiled from ear to ear.

How often do we, as parents, overlook the simple in life?

Understandably so, we allow the pressures of childrearing, careers, and after-school activities to dictate our thoughts. We overlook the faint rainbows that grace the misty sky after a rain shower because our gaze is fixed on achieving those monumental watershed moments—the ones that light up the sky like a firework display. The ones everyone notices.

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We seek out the disco because it’s flashy, yet, overlook the beautiful ballet. Our childlike wonder has dissipated, and weighty adult responsibility has set in. It’s jaded our eyes to see and appreciate the beauty in the simple.

The popular storybook image of Jesus with little children gathered around his feet flashes across my mind. Though we are now parents on this earth, we are still God’s children. He holds us in the palm of His mighty hands. Scripture tells us in 1 John 3:1, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are . . .” (ESV).

God yearns for us to come to Him with a humble and straightforward devotion—the faith of a child.

Although we should never overlook our duties as a child guardian, we should take time to marvel at the beauty all around us, for it lives in the everyday.

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It’s easy to discard the hours spent snuggling your smooth-skinned baby still wrapped in diapers, that spontaneous, heart-bursting hug from your toddler, that home-cooked meal that nourishes your family’s bodies, that quick conversation with your neighbor, or that fragrant vase of wildflowers on your desk sent from your adoring spouse or childhood friend.  

We look at these moments as mundane. They are everyday happenings, but these are the moments that define us. These moments are the pieces of the quilt that determine the elaborate cloth design on our exterior and interior.

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May we always appreciate the simplicity of a moment before that moment is gone. May we learn from our children to marvel at the modesty of daily life—that is the attitude our Father in Heaven truly treasures.