Enjoy them as God’s gifts
FEBRUARY 12, 2008 (TUESDAY)
A new word has installed itself in our minds: “Google.” It means to use a search engine on the web. Not long ago it was the name of a new company; now it’s a verb.
Today I “googled” for “simple pleasures,” thinking I might write a blog about the top ten simple things of life that make us feel good. My search produced “Simple Pleasures” as a brand name for everything under the sun, from health foods to lingerie.
That’s the way it is. Commercialism hath made crass traders of us all.
Have you had the experience of a simple pleasure? I did. 
Yesterday I looked out the window of a car as I rode through the Rockport cemetery, and there, on February 11, weeks before Spring, I saw bursting forth from the earth, a Bluebonnet flower! It was speaking to me. Oh, yes, I heard it. It said, “I’m tired of sleeping in the ground. I rise to face the sun and appear to you as a simple, beautiful expression of the grace of God in giving such beautiful life as mine to this world. I am providing for you a simple pleasure. Enjoy it to the fullest.”
The lone Bluebonnet is joining the other wildflowers as they poke their heads into the light of day, and soon the Rockport Cemetery will once again become a beautiful garden of God’s flowers, a gift to all of us.
The trees will follow the example of the wildflowers and bring forth their buds, then flowers, leaves, and finally fruit. Is there a greater sight in the world than this proof of God’s love, right there in your own yard?
Let us be thankful for simple pleasures. Life is full of them.