Fresh Starts

As I look out my window at the field next to our house and see the "fresh starts" of grain coming up out of the earth, I am thankful. Just a few weeks ago this alfalfa field was at the end of its growing season and was drying up and turning brown. Not too pretty. But once it got plowed, planted with new seeds, and those seeds began to sprout, it has become something so beautiful to me. I am thankful today for the times in my life when I am given a "fresh start". I feel this way today, as it is the beginning of a new week. Usually by the end of the week I'm feeling a little "brown and withered" like the field, but I love Sundays and the chance they give me to go to church, renew my covenants, and vow to do better as I start a new week. And speaking of church and fresh starts, who can forget the gift of repentance and the joyful fresh start that the atonement can provide for us? This is another thing that is so precious to me, such a priceless gift to us all, that I have been so thankful for throughout my life.

Some fresh starts can be a little hard to deal with because they mean change. Sometimes we aren't looking for a fresh start but are guided to one. I can't help but reflect on the change that has, and will be occurring in my own family's life. We will experience a big change in a year and a half when we move for medical school. I very much look forward to a fresh start, but at the same time am a little scared of the changes that will occur as we move away from everything that's familiar to our family. Hopefully this fresh start will mean growth for our family and we can "bloom" wherever the Lord sees fit to "plant" us.

So I am thankful for today, the start of a new week, for who I am, and what I am capable of. I look forward to what this week brings even though it is already piled high with things such as parent/teacher conferences, Pilgrim lunch, Girl's Night Out, temple night, violin recital, wedding reception, and my long anticipated final exam for medical transcription...Ahhhhhhhhh!!!! I wish you all a great week!