It was an unexpected moment of joy. 

I am not a morning person. I love the morning feeling and wish it would last all day long, but how I love my sleep. If I get enough, I don’t mind too much rising early, but I need time to wake up before doing all the things, mainly, talking to people or finding anything funny. That morning I had a long list of things to do for the day and the weeks to come. 

Still early, I went to the laundry room to transfer the overnight laundry from the washer to the dryer and throw some fabric in to wash. Seeing the girls’ dirty clothes bag still lying there empty, I took it to the stairs for them to take down later. The bag is large and bulky with handles and a hard pad to make it stand straight. Placing it where I usually do, I saw it topple. End over end, crumpling this way and that, it made its slow descent down the stairs until it finally ended with a defeated flop half on the last stair and half off.

And that, my friends, was how I found myself chortling with laughter at 7:30 in the morning, in my quiet kitchen. It bubbled over and out until I had to place my head in my hands and wipe away the tears. Even though we had purposely, at times, particularly with the big packages of toilet paper and paper towels from Sam’s, made things topple down the stairs and laughed about it, the whole thing that morning struck my funny bone. 

Many minutes later, I still felt the twinkle in my eye and the smile that desperately wanted to mark my face. An unexpected moment of joy. Some days, it can feel like all we do is the same as the last. Work, make meals, train our children, and sleep. There are times when our lives are so full, we have precious little time to go for that coffee, take the hike, or spend a day at the lake. 

But these moments of joy! These small moments of joy. The unexpected in a day of expected. The words coming out of my son’s mouth as he sounds so grown up, the funny remark made at the supper table, the whistling of the guinea pigs when they think you’re coming to them. 

The message from a friend who says she’s not gonna tell you a story because you can only handle so many of her stories, but a mere few seconds later is telling the story in the same message. Then to hear her laugh—I can still hear it in my ears and it makes me smile. The new kids bouncing around in their pen outside, the way my shoes land just so on the floor, and the way the floppy, bulky clothes bag frumps its way down the stairs. 

Unexpected moments of joy amidst the expected moments of everyday life. Jesus truly does give us joy along the journey like the song says. He helps us see the little things along the way. The way the sun shines in the window just so, the smell of freshly baked bread, and the tiny hummingbird hovering at the feeder.

When He is the source of our joy, we see joy everywhere. Oh that we can reach out and feel, reach out and touch, wrapping our hands and hearts around these moments for we will never have days exactly like this day again.