A new Dawn!

I found this picture of a sunrise in the seaside town of Hoi An, Vietnam. I like the peacefulness, the hope, the promise that you can feel in this shot - like a new day is just arising, not yet filled with worries and frets, still crystal clear to become whatever we make of it.

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Life's been feeling a bit like this picture the last couple of weeks. We are finally starting to make our way into the Spring - warmer weather, the end to the myriad of illnesses that we've seen this winter (we hope!) & the excitement of looking forward to travelling to get David soon. It's been a bit of a long Winter this year - perhaps that makes the Spring feel all the more promising, like a fresh page ready for a new story. David turned six months old this week, and the reality of his being a part of our family becomes more true each day. Each little milestone keeps reminding me of how excited I am to have him here soon - next Easter as he toddles through the grass, next baseball season, when we gather as a family of four to cheer on our Cubs, next Spring, when he tries out the new swingset we are building in the backyard.

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It's amazing to think how much change will occur in our lives in the next few months! Next week, I will go to register my sweet, young Will for KINDERGARTEN! How can he possibly be old enough for real school already? I'm sure that he will do wonderfully - but his Mama may be a bit misty-eyed at the prospect of the end of his babyhood era. (I think his Daddy is a bit misty-eyed about that one too, by the way!) Still, the winds of change blow, and he keeps growing up. I even registered him for his first day-camp today. It's probably no big deal, just a half-a-day for two weeks at the zoo here in town - but STILL! It's Camp! No parents! Wow! His summer will be full of "little boy" stuff - the first T-ball team, swimming lessons, bible school, Redhawks games, soccer camp.

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Amazing to think that Will is the same tiny one I bundled in my arms just five years ago. Perhaps some of my nostalgia comes from his asking to look at his baby pictures a lot lately in preparation for David's arrival. He asks me, "What did I look like when I was my brother's age?" at least every couple of weeks, and I go on the hunt for more photos, more computer files to show him. He climbs into my lap in front of the computer and we peek at all the baby pictures. He smiles and laughs at his roley-poley toes, his first Halloween costume, riding in his first wagon with Max the Dog. I smile and laugh as I remember all those little moments...and look forward to the ones to come.

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You see, I am so blessed to have so many new memories ahead! As I look at photos of Will learning to crawl, my heart imagines the fun of experiencing it all over again with David. As I watch Will growing before my eyes, I think about the first time he will get a hit on the T-ball team, his smile so big his face can barely contain it. I picture the look on his Dad's face as he holds both sons in his lap, cheering on the football games this fall. I even look a bit forward to wiping away a few of the tears on that first day of kindergarten -- the few sad ones that come from the end of one era and the buckets of proud ones that come from the promise of a new one.

Kinda like that sunrise in Hoi An -- not yet full of worries and frets, still crystal clear to become whatever we make of it.

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"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus....And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God." (Philippians 1:3-6,9-11)