I hear her car pull in the garage so I linger a while longer in the kitchen. She walks in through the garage after school, book bag over her shoulder, grocery bag dangling from her right arm, flowers wrapped in clear plastic in the left.

“I wanted this to be surprise for you,” she admits when she hands the flowers to me. “It’s hard to surprise you when you are already home.”

She puts the bag down on the table, pulls out a square brown box with Godiva embossed gold on the lid, hands them it to me and says, “Happy Valentine’s Day. And I picked these flowers because they smell so good.”

I pull her into me, kiss her cheek and say thank you. It isn’t often that a mother gets flowers and candy from her teenage daughter. But really, she teaches me about delight in generosity on most days of the week, not just on the day to express love.

She takes the contents remaining in the grocery bag – pretzels, fruit and nuts covered in colorful chocolate – and sits on the floor.  Surrounded by a roll of red cellophane, scissors, and curly ribbon, she crafts goody bags for twelve of her friends.

The money she spent, almost ten hours of working behind the counter after school.

And I think this is how Jesus delights in us, his children. He lavishes love all over us just because he wants to, not because of what we have done or deserve or because he expects something from us in return.

My daughter illustrates the way we come to Him, like children, and I am undone. (Matthew 18:3)

How about you, have you ever been the recipient of someone’s delight?

 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. ~Zephaniah 3:17