Celebrate New Starts

It’s an odd day for me.

I guess “odd” isn’t quite the word I wanted to use, but it was the first one that bubbled up this early in the morning. It is “that word” because it is the celebration (or remembrances) of two new starts for two whom I deeply love.

First and now, most importantly, it is my youngest daughter, Madeline’s University graduation day. After many fabulous hurdles and victories, she graduates with a Bachelors in Business Administration from North Central University in Minneapolis. Already, she secured a position as the director of the campus store and online resources. We’ll celebrate at a rooftop restaurant with her boyfriends family, and I’ll be an overly proud father. I already am.

She began writing a new chapter in her story. She is on her path. She started.

Secondly, today marks my oldest daughters, Makenzie’s, birthday. She’d be 28 today. We’d most likely be going to dinner with her and her husband, fawning over her little kids like grandparents do, and enjoying talking about her life as a nurse and mother. She’d laugh at my “Dad jokes,” and my heart would swell. That’d be my dream if it could be. But it is only my dream. She is now writing her story in the continuance of eternity.

So I celebrate so many things today. Mostly, that God’s grace abounds and surrounds our family. No matter where my family is in or out of this world, the Lord is there celebrating every new beginning — every fresh start.

Peace!