It's Spring!

 Olivia and I have been enjoying the great outdoors recently, that is - outside our apartment within a 4 block radius.  We have been taking daily walks in the morning, right as the sun is warming everything up.  Every time I pull the stroller out, Olivia will stop what she is doing and intently watch me get ready.  Then, as I put her in the stroller, she will get outwardly excited.  Finally, as I pull open the door to head outside, she will look up at me and smile in anticipation.  Throughout our walks she is constantly looking around her taking it all in and sometimes talking to life around her.  I feel safe saying that she likes to go for walks.

I've been wondering what it would be like to experience spring for the first time like Olivia is.  Today, we stepped out our door to watch the rain, and Olivia was entranced by the pitter-patter of the rain.  It made me enjoy it that much more.  During the afternoons, Olivia and I will occasionally go sit outside under a tree and play with toys.  The first time we did this, it was her first encounter with grass - boy was that fascinating!  She would look at it with a scientist eye and then pet it and stroke it until she was distracted by another patch of grass - she would be just as observant with that new discovery as she was with the previous one.  Needless to say, we mostly played with the grass that day.

I am finding myself looking at the beauties of spring with Olivia's intensity and wonder and it is making it a glorious spring!  I have always enjoyed spring - I love new life and see spring as a victory over death, sort of speak.  Not only do I see it around me, but I feel it.  I feel more motivated and free, like I am shaking off the sorrows of winter and conquering day to day life with more energy and strength.  I am grateful for spring! and for the many, many, finite details of God's creation that Olivia has helped me re-discover.  I challenge you to look at spring this year as if it were your first time and enjoy what God has created for you.