The family across the street caught my attention. Three grade school aged children stood on the front steps posing for pictures on the first day of the school year. They and so many other children this time of year seem filled with wonder and excitement. So many new things to experience: friends, teachers, learning, activities, field trips, sports, and recitals. The list seems to go on and on.
Forty some years later, I wonder how often I am filled with wonder and excitement. Days come and go and for the most part I know what to expect. The parts I don’t expect are often the parts I’d just as soon not have to deal with. They tend to fill me with dread more than wonder or excitement.
Even vacations can fail to evoke a sense of wonder or excitement when I only anticipate what I have experienced before. I recently tagged along with husband as he attended a work related conference. He was in meetings all day and I focused on the writing I had to get done. I’ve had a chance to tag along to other conferences and in many ways this one was no different.
And Yet …
- I sat poolside everyday. With my laptop I can work just about anywhere! How fun to enjoy the warm weather, cool off in the pool, and place my meal order with the passing waiter.
- At one of the receptions we ran into one of my husband’s vendors who told us she’d been so excited to hear about my upcoming book she’d gone home and pre-ordered it. The conversation was encouraging and exciting!
- My husband and I took several walks over the course of the trip. One served as a catalyst to exercise together – we’ve walked everyday since returning. Another was on a trail through the marshland that surrounds the resort area. My husband declared, not for the first time, that what we were seeing would look great in our backyard. We’ll end up with a backyard that’s 50 square miles and with as much biodiverity as Ecuador if all the things he thinks would make a good backyard actually make up our backyard!
- I did some bird watching and added two birds to my life list. Who knew that an anhinga’s neck movement as it swims is the same motion as rowing a boat?
It’s easy for me to get so caught up in what I expect that I forget to look for the unexpected; I forget that what God has created and the people He places in my path can fill me with wonder and excitement if I will just pay attention. I’m going to do my best to look forward with anticipation, knowing that just around the corner is something new, something that will be wonderful and exciting.