If you had asked me a few years ago where I most clearly saw the hand of God, I might have pointed to a church service, a moment of prayer, or a powerful worship song. And while He’s certainly there—in the holy and the sacred—I’ve come to realize lately that He’s also wildly, beautifully present in the ordinary.
All thanks to my inquisitive daughter, Penny.
At six years old, Penny is a walking bundle of curiosity and wonder. She asks questions constantly. Why are sunflowers so tall? Why does coffee smell that way? Why does the sky change colors at night? At first, I answered with practical facts, often turning to Google or drawing on things I learned in school or picked up along the way. But eventually, her questions nudged me deeper.
Her wonder of this wondrous world God created became contagious.
One morning, while sipping my usual first cup of coffee, Penny sat next to me and asked, “Did God make coffee?” I looked down at the mug in my hands, and suddenly, it didn’t seem so ordinary anymore. Here was a tiny bean, grown in the soil of some far-off land, picked, dried, roasted, ground, and brewed into something so rich, so comforting, so… good. And I thought—how incredible that God designed something as simple as a coffee bean to bring us such joy.
PC: Joanna Gott
God didn’t have to make the world beautiful. He didn’t have to give us a variety of colors in flowers, or the deep satisfaction of a warm drink on a cold morning, or the breathtaking show that plays out in the sky every evening. But He did. Not just because He’s Creator, but because He is good.
Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” And it’s not just the heavens. It’s the tiny seeds that grow into glorious flowers. It’s the intricate design of patterns on a butterfly’s wings. It’s the way the sun kisses the horizon in hues of gold and pink. All of it points back to Him.
Watching the world through my daughter’s eyes has been like getting to meet creation all over again. She doesn’t just glance at things—she SEES them. She watches bumblebees float from one flower to another in awe and wonder. She picks tomatoes off the vine like she’s gathering treasure. She watches the sun go down and marvels at the pink clouds. And I’ve started doing the same.
Romans 1:20 tells us, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made.” God has written Himself into the world around us. His fingerprints are everywhere, and sometimes, all it takes is a child’s question to slow us down enough to notice.
PC: Joanna Gott
I’ve also realized that the beauty of creation isn’t just in the finished product—it’s in the process. Think about coffee again. It starts with a seed buried in dirt. Then, slowly, over time, it becomes a plant. Then comes the harvesting, the drying, the roasting. Only then do we get to grind it and brew it into that morning ritual so many of us love. It’s a process, full of patience and intention.
Isn’t that just like God?
He doesn’t rush. He creates with care. He forms sunflowers that turn toward the sun, oceans that rise and fall in rhythm, and sunsets that never repeat themselves. He even forms us—“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works…” (Ephesians 2:10). We are part of His beautiful, ongoing creation.
These days, when Penny asks her endless stream of questions, I don’t rush to Google the answers. Sometimes, I respond and tell her that this is a perfect question she can ask God when she gets to heaven. And other times, I just sit with her and look. We marvel together. We wonder. And in those quiet, awe-filled moments, I feel closer to God than I ever have.
PC: Joanna Gott
If you’ve been searching for signs of God’s presence, you don’t have to look far. He’s in the scent of freshly ground coffee. He’s in the delicate curve of a flower’s petals. He’s in the way the sky blushes at the end of the day. You just have to slow down, like a child does, and take it all in.
God is in the details. And those details are everywhere.
So next time you answer a child’s curious question, remember you are experiencing a small glimpse of the Creator’s heart.
And sometimes, the most sacred moments are the simplest ones—shared over a cup of coffee, under a painted sky, with a curious little girl named Penny.
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Read more of Joanna’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
