Morning

We've had a Sunday evening class at church this month based on the NPR "This I Believe" program. If you're not familiar with it, check out their website: http://www.thisibelieve.com/ It's an 'international project engaging people in writing, sharing, and discussing the core values that guide their daily lives. These are short statements of belief, written by people from all walks of life." It's an interesting format to work with given what we're trying to do as a family. I'm working on a couple of them. Here's one....

I love mornings. It’s not just the quality of the light as I sit on the deck and watch the shades of grey in the garden start to glow with infused colors observable only at the start of the day. It’s not just the peace that fills me as I sip my coffee, listen to the birds and watch the squirrels do their acrobatics on the high wires. It’s the energy I feel in the morning. The sense of possibilities. Even when I go to bed so exhausted I can hardly climb the stairs, I awaken in the morning and my body is ready to stretch, to move, to have the adrenalin rush that comes from my daily swim. How wonderful it is to get a hope-filled morning every twenty four hours--a new day, a fresh start.

There’s an 8th grade boy from Mexico at the middle school where I work named José. Last year I matched him up with a mentor who was concerned that José seemed very immature, would cry easily and have outbursts of temper. When I spoke to José about Daniel becoming his mentor I had a hard time explaining the concept of a mentor to him in English, and he nearly refused the opportunity because of my inability to communicate. José and Daniel stopped by my office this week. José wanted to see if I could get a mentor for his brother. “He needs to have someone to speak English with,” he explained. I was stunned by the change in both his demeanor and in his English. “José, your English is so good!” I exclaimed. He looked at me with a huge grin, stood an inch taller and said, “I know.” In Mexico José was the brightest and best student in his class. When he came to the US his inability to understand or be understood led to explosiveness, frustration and the school persona of a 'difficult child'. But he worked at learning English, he had a teacher and a mentor who believed in him and now he’s confident, happy, and seeking to help his brother. It’s a new school year for José. A fresh start. A morning of sorts.

Last night I watched the Presidential debates and listened as both candidates spoke of their plans for troop build-up (in different countries) as a solution to international problems. On this day I feel a desperate need for a new morning; for our country, for its leadership, its people. For that surge of hope that comes to me as the sky gets light—hope that the American people really are better than the last seven years; hope that there is a solution other than war to greed, poverty, and fear; hope that we can elect leaders who can build bridges rather than bombs. We need a new morning. A fresh start.

I believe in mornings. For myself, for our children, for our country, for our world.

And, I might add, for our family!
Barbara