I love today

Today is the first day of September....wow!

Now, I love summer - in fact, I love summer best of all the seasons. I don't know why for sure, but I think it has hung on since my childhood. Summer still represents sleeping in, vacations, weeks with Grandma and Grandpa, homemade ice-cream, and days spent at the swimming pool. Most of those things are not regular parts of my summer schedule now that I am approaching 50. (well, I have a bit to go...but it's coming) I have a job where I leave my house before 7:00 a.m. every morning. That is NOT sleeping in! And my summer vacation? Well, let's just gratefully say it has been postponed to December due to a little airplane in a pond mistake.
So, even though my summer does not look like it did when it became my favorite season, and even though I thoroughly love summer, I am very, very ready for fall. And flipping the calendar today to the month of September, well, it just colors my world orange and gold! And I know that Spring is supposed to be the season of new beginnings, but something about September conjures up the melancholy of a new school year, new clothes, new shoes, new friends, and a new start.

This September 1st is holding true to how I feel about September. I sit in my home office this evening, and it is quiet. A thunderstorm rolled through during my drive home and during the dinner hour. The thunder was loud and constant and the rain was heavy and quickly deep on the ground. And then it stopped. My daughter and I ran outside when the sun popped out (right before it was to set) to view a beautiful rainbow. The air sparkled with the cleansing that the drenching rain had provided. It was crisp, ever so slightly cool and the water ran down the street, taking with it the dust from many hot, dry days. We stand side by side in our front yard, staring at the sky, in silence. I remind her of God's promise and she reminds me she has known His promise since almost the day she was born. Smiling, I tease her 16 year old smart alec-ness and tell her I am glad that she remembers. Sighing, I soak in as much as I can before the moment passes. And it will. In a blink of an eye, she went from 6 to 16. It wasn't that long ago that I was 6 ... and then 16 ... was it??? Oh yes, I must soak it all in, the rainbow, the glistening leaves on the trees, the rush of the rainwater in the street, and the teasing look in my daughter's eyes when she reminds me of how many times I have told her of God's love.

September is here. Wow!