The Never Ending Gifts

I’m going to visit my baby granddaughter, Eve, today. My goal: to get some smiles. Nothing warms my heart like seeing that tiny person’s face light up when she sees me. It’s priceless.

Bob loves those smiles even more than I do, and he’ll do anything to get them. As soon as he sees Eve, his arms raise up like airplane wings, his mouth and eyebrows contort to form all sorts of silly faces, and motor sounds vibrate from his lips. He is quite a sight to behold. Sometimes Eve just stares at him until finally she gets what he’s doing. Then her whole face shines with delight. So does his.

As I was reading Psalm 81 today, I realized God says to “sing for joy” because he, too, wants our smiles. And he’ll do anything to get them.

He sends sweet summer fruits to delight our palate and big fluffy rain clouds to quench our thirst. He sends birds and butterflies to cheer us, and rainbows and spectacular sunsets to awe us. He even sent his son Jesus to remove our burdens and set us free.

Like Eve, sometimes I don’t recognize God’s gifts of love, even when they’re right in front of me. But I’m trying to be aware of and celebrate the good things God gives me each day. I want to be a child of God who smiles and delights his heart. I want to make God smile, too.