My walk was about to end. Thankfully so.  For over an hour, the morning’s brisk air poked at my cold, rosy cheeks and as I wandered along the path, I wondered, “What am I doing here?”  Brrrr…  

My car waiting in the parking lot offered the promise of warmth. The end was in sight.  But, then, I stopped. A flurry of activity caught my eye. In the middle of a scrubby bit of brush that was all twigs and a few berries clinging to bare branches there were … Robins!

Really?  Robins in Michigan, in January?  In the middle of a short burst of snowflakes, a half dozen robins, feathers fluffed to insulate against the winter cold, plucked frozen berries from the branches for their breakfast.

Robins!  Imagine that!  I thought I had seen my last robin months ago.  Yet there they were in the middle of January, no less.  Is spring just around the corner?  Why did they come back so soon?

Then I realized that they never left.  Even though I missed them and thought they were gone, they’ve been around all along.

What was I doing here? Without realizing, walking this path, I was opening myself up to the delights of God’s world. In spite of the blustery January morning, this week’s unexpected delight came in the form of ones who were gone, at least in my mind, yet never left.  Today’s delightful gift.