Day One

"While the changing of the seasons is a slow and gradual transition, it does seem as though there is always a first day."  ~Amanda Blake Soule

Yes, a first day.  Could this be ours?  Those snowdrops have been up for weeks but today they open up their faces and positively beam at us.  Spring moving beyond a thought, a hope, and into full being.

Watching my kids scamper here and there, taking in the sights and smells and sounds of this First Day, I'm reminded of other First Days in life.  The first day that prayer became an unconcious reaction to hard and scary moments.  The first day the baby crawls for real.  The first day running a few miles actually feels good. The first day that Faith stopped being a concept and became infused into every area of life.  The first day a child reads - well.

I've had so many "First Days" in this life.  Each of them hopeful their own way.  Each of them marking a change, the promise that in many ways life will never be the same again.

Like stepping barefoot into those icy cold Springtime puddles, on the first day we are immersed.  And in this immersion we feel, we know, that this is a part of who we are.  It is pure pleasure to see my little ones discovering Springtime.  I welcome her like an old friend.  Blue flowers and brilliant skies.  Warm, fragrant mud and green shoots all over.  I know how endless childhood can feel, how each year can seem quite like the last until suddenly you find yourself grown with young ones of your own.  I know how suddenly each Springtime can become something to cherish, something to hold on to - something fast fleeting with just a change in the wind.

Dinah tears up the path, hand clenched full of wildflowers, my first bouquet of the year.  I inhale deeply and look right into her shining eyes.  Today is the first day, Day One.  This moment is pure magic.