Sunday, April 14, 2013

Fresh Beginnings

"The day the Lord created hope was probably the same day he created Spring."
-- Bern Williams
 
     This has been a week of new experiences and fresh beginnings for me and my family. Interestingly enough, my last entry was about the value of older, more experienced individuals and their contributions and right now my thoughts are on youth and their potential. My mind centered on this topic as I drove home Friday after having a conversation with two of my co-workers after school. After a couple days of bike riding over the weekend (another first this week after ceasing longer rides in November) with time to mull things over, I finally feel inspired to write my first entry in this blog since October.
     Spring waved a wand of transformation over our area this past week. Temperatures rose, flowers sprang open in the sun, and pollen covered everything like pale green snow. To top it all off, some frog eggs my kids and I had collected from a local pond hatched and filled our fish bowl with wriggling tadpoles. We have now moved them into a bigger aquarium since we have estimated that about thirty of the little creatures are in residence in our house. It's hard to get an exact count- they are very active and hungry. They have been eating with great gusto from the chopped lettuce and algae we placed in the tank. This is our first time seeing tadpoles hatch and develop up close and personal and I am just as excited as the kids. I am amazed by God's creation and the cycle of life.
     All these new buds opening and tadpoles growing this week have brought to my mind how important the beginning of life is. With the right environment and proper care and nurturing, living things bloom and blossom into strong adults. Without these things, finding this strength and success is much more difficult, though not impossible. I feel invigorated by this thought, determined to rededicate my efforts toward encouraging not only my own children, but the children I teach, to find the hope within them, the talent, the future, and to bring it forth into full, astonishing bloom.