I was roaming around a plant nursery while my wife and her sister were shopping for some treasures. There happened into my sight a young mom with her (probably) 18 month old toddler who was pretty steady on her feet. Mom was following her daughter around from area to area, just far enough away not to be too interfering with the activities of the child, but near enough to swoop in and keep her from either harm to herself, or damaging the goods for sale in the store.
I watched the toddler, wide-eyed, wandering from fountain to plant pot, looking at, and touching most everything along her path. As they passed by me, I just mentioned to the woman, “life is wonderful for a kid.” and she looked at me with a wistful smile and said “Why, yes it is.”
In that moment, it occurred to me that this woman ‘get’s it.’ That is, the reason she is spending a significant amount of time letting her daughter aimlessly explore this store is that she recognizes that pretty much everything her daughter encounters is new and wonderful, and mom wants her to enjoy that sense of wonder as much as she can. All the different textures of the faux stone, tile or ceramic the little girl encountered was a delightful experience and mom didn’t want to disturb the experience.
As they passed by, it occurred to me that in my years of life and catalog of experiences, I had come to miss the wonder in many things. Sure, I appreciate beauty in nature, the awe inspiring majesty of the sun, sky, stars and planets, and the great work of God’s salvation in Jesus. But what I was missing is simple wonder. My thoughts tend to be an intellectual response without much heart. However, after seeing this toddler enjoying such simple experiences, I was compelled to wander the store with a newly recovered sense of wonder of my own. I looked at, touched and experienced the textures of the various materials, finishes and shapes, and was moved by the talent, skill and thought that went into creating all these things. Whether or not I personally ‘liked’ the things, there was much to experience in wonder, and much to appreciate.
May God grant that this little episode will be the awakening to wonder in many things I encounter going forward.
I hope that mom still experiences for herself the great sense of wonder that she seemed to want her toddler to experience.
Random Thoughts 
I had the same feeling watching my dog as a puppy! Ever present. Ever engaged. Ever curious. Each smell of grass, eating everything he saw (which actually annnoyed me since I had to pry the leaves out of his mouth), and rubbing his paws in the earth. All of it new…
I’ll make this my prayer as well.
Lord help me to see the wonder of your creation like I did as a child.
Thank you for the sweet observation.
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I had the same feeling watching my dog as a puppy! Ever present. Ever engaged. Ever curious. Each smell of grass, eating everything he saw (which actually annnoyed me since I had to pry the leaves out of his mouth), and rubbing his paws in the earth. All of it new…
I’ll make this my prayer as well.
Lord help me to see the wonder of your creation like I did as a child.
Thank you for the sweet observation.
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This reminds me of a passage in Dallas Willard’s book “The Divine Conspiracy”. The passage is quoted down a bit in this blog post, https://trinities.org/blog/dallas-willard-god-is-happy/.
It describes the existential joy that God must be experiencing every moment, and how “out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it.”
Far from being frivolous, joy seems to be an essential aspect of God’s thought process and motivation. Scripture appears to declare that “the joy set before him” was essential for him to endure the cross.
Planning and hoping for joy, and having those plans and hopes culminate in moments of enjoyment, delight, and wonder for which “it was all worth it”, are just as essential for us in order to act rightly… and not only rightly, but also charitably, and to avoid becoming “a morose and miserable monarch, a frustrated and petty parent, or a policeman on the prowl.”
I need to visit more plants.
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