What does your joy look like today?

I'm trying to answer as many of  these questions as I can, and have decided to post them here (even though most of my friends that used to read this blog have moved on to Facebook, etc., to keep up).

This is my first crack at it...

WHAT DOES YOUR JOY LOOK LIKE TODAY?

Today my joy is a 23 month old little girl who asks me to cuddle, crawls into my lap, and stays there by choice. A child who I never saw coming, but who just may have saved my life. A child who has brought joy to so many people, and that too, in turn, brings joy to me. She's funny, and beautiful, and brilliant. And she has swept through here like a hurricane, upending everything I thought my life would be right now.
I was done. I'd had two kids, who I raised and loved with all my heart, but I was done. I thought when my girls were grown, I would do everything I ever wanted to do - alone. I would have an extra bedroom for sewing and reading. And I would travel to places where I didn't know anyone - and love it! And my girls would be off at school, or building lives of their own, independent of me.
But then all of that changed and no one consulted me. None of it worked out the way I planned. This child was on her way. And I was devastated. I thought all of our futures were irreparably altered.
Devastated.
But now there's HER. The most beautiful, amazing, awe inspiring human being I've ever known. The one who makes me so proud to be a Grammie. The one who showed me that this plan is better than the one I had. The one who reminded me what sheer joy truly is.
And now on a daily basis, I see my heart walking around in a pair of red sparkly shoes, and I thank God for those cuddles from a child that I never saw coming.