“One joy was expected and another is given.” – The Space Trilogy (CS Lewis)

So busy wanting, expecting, hoping for the same type of happiness, fullness, and joy as before. Eyes peeled for the same joy as last time, pining, in a way, for the past. It makes sense. We want an encore of what was so great.

Yet I might be missing the new brand of joy that’s flying at me, the girl without eyes to see it because she was expecting something else.

“One joy was expected and another is given.”

It will look a bit different from the last joyful thing… but then again, I am also different. So is my world.

My Lord, however, is the same — beautifully unchanging — but it’s true that I see new facets of Him each year that I grow. He lets me in (little by little) on more of the mystery and wonder.

I don’t have the ability to imagine up all the possible joys in life. I’m working with a finite, pea-brain that relies much on memories and a bit on imagination. I expect one type of joy. Another type is given. The type I didn’t (couldn’t?) imagine or expect.

There’s joy abounding if I’m ready and open for the new joys, not the old ones; not the ones I expected.

Unexpected joys. Count on them. Expect the unexpected and keep those eyes peeled.