hands. Back then I would dash out,
unsure of what I would find but certain
that it was worth finding.
This morning, so many years later, I
remembered that feeling. I remembered
the eager anticipation that once defined
my heart. I remembered answering the
invitation to live expectantly with an
affirmative. To live without fear. I chose
that then, and this very morning I had
the opportunity to choose it again. I’d
had the opportunity to choose it in
the middle of this past night, and I am
going to have a hundred opportunities
to choose it today.
I pray to choose it. I pray that I will
allow the memory to have its way with
my heart.
I pray to become that hope-filled,
expectant-of-good child again, and for
the crisp morning air to have its way
with me. For God to use it to cleanse
me of cynicism, doubt, and fear.
I do not know what today will hold,
but the fresh fragrance that enveloped
me at the front door reminded me
that I could be a woman of faith who
welcomes it. So I will bundle up and
take my joy-filled, always-expectant,
and ready-for-a- romp-in-the-snow
dogs for a walk.
Yes. I will do that. I will choose to be
like them and hold dear the little girl I
once was. I’m not going to spend my
day running from the realities of my
life. I am going to live it open-handedly
with an eye out for the good that is
coming my way today, letting it deepen
my hunger. Hunger is not my enemy.
“
My soul was filled with
expectancy all those
mornings so long ago. I
did not know what the
days held, but I reached
out to them boldly with
mittened hands.
40 • Solutions