Well, it’s Alaska, so I guess it’s to be expected that the explosion of newness that comes with spring should be delayed…

But just today I was marveling at the number of “beginnings” that have tumbled into my life in the last… chunk of time.  Any of them could be a post of its own, but for my own record-keeping, here they are.

• The Garden
• Morning prayer time
  • I’ve done morning reading before, but my prayers were always spread throughout the day.
• The Deal with Jay— that he manages kids after Bedtime (letting me write regularly) and I take over in the morning (since I’m already up praying).  The neat thing in all this is how much better and later they’ve been sleeping. ;)  I trust that God has been choosing the length of my prayer-time.
• The costumes for the coming Faire
  • This really deserves a post of its own, along with my hopeful delight at a Halloween alternative that doesn’t take place on October 31st.
• A resurgence of interest in storytelling
  • In theory, for now, with solid opportunities for it to become reality if it proves appropriate for the coming season.
• The beginning of the end of my novel
  • It’s at a place that seems possible now
• Summer (outdoor) exercise again: Yay for biking!
• My first attack of allergies (not. cool.).  All in my eyes.
  • Gives me a whole new appreciation for what my husband has gone through every spring I’ve known him.  It takes a lot of heart to function lovingly when you can’t breathe, and your eyes feel encased in fire.  Dear man, he never complains; just moves slower.
• First non-pregnancy weight-gain in 10 years
• First conscious choice to cut hot cocoa and eating candy with my kids
  • As a result of the previous.
• Intriguing new study in Sunday School (women apart from the men)
• New responsibility in Jr. Church: basically, leading it.
  • This is interesting because there are 5 2-year-olds, and I realized I have no experience doing anything with children on a 2-year-old level.  My kids all jumped pretty quickly to sitting and listening to stories and poetry (probably because that’s most of what they got), which is something you don’t do with a mass of 2s anyway.

I talked with Jay about all this at the playground, today, saying how surprised I was at the number of starts just now, and how I was thankful it came while we were going through such a peaceful time.

His observation was that it seemed a peaceful time because I’ve been (almost) carefully guarding my time with God.  And I think he’s right.

It’s a very encouraing thought.