Waiting for the Sunrise: How Dawn is Beautiful, Too.

When I was seven years old, my parents and I took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg. This vacation had something for everyone. My mom was delighted to see the stately, colonial architecture and my dad was thrilled to learn about the town’s role in the American Revolution. I was excited to learn about both the history and architecture of Colonial Williamsburg, but I had a different reason to look forward to this trip- Williamsburg was where Felicity, my American Girl Doll, and heroine of one of my favorite books, was from. It was in this town that her story took place, where she rode across the fields at dawn on her horse, Penny. I was captivated by the courage of this little girl, not much older than I was, and couldn’t wait to see where she would have lived. The trip did not disappoint, and I would credit it as the beginning of my love of history. However, I recall this vacation for another reason more relevant to this post.

On Wednesday of our trip, my mom woke me up early. We slipped on our shoes and tiptoed out of the house. There’s a scene in Felicity: An American Girl where Felicity sneaks into the fields at dawn to train her horse, and my mom recreated that moment for me. When we stepped outside, the world had just started to wake up. I remember my purple Mary-Jane shoes, soaking wet with dew, and bundling up in my dad’s sweatshirt, which we had grabbed on the way out of the house. The sky was a grayish pink. It was clear that something beautiful was about to happen. We got to the field and leaned against the fence rails just in time for the sun to rise. Whenever I think of dawn, I remember that morning with my mom. The two of us sharing that moment, waiting for something beautiful to happen. It remains one of my favorite childhood memories.

This moment, right now, is a time of dawn for me. My summer is drawing to a close and my Junior year of high school will start on Monday. I’m full of anticipation and hope for the school year; hopes of finding new passions and learning more about myself as I continue to grow in knowledge and understanding. I also have anxieties about time management as I begin a remote school year with a difficult course load. I worry that I won’t measure up to my own expectations for my academic performance. Yet, like that moment in Williamsburg with my mom, this in itself is a beautiful time. This in itself is a gift from God. The wait for the sun to rise and for the day to start was, in reality just as special as the sunrise itself.

Instead of anxiously awaiting the start of a new chapter in our lives, let’s pause and look at the place that we’re at. Let’s thank God for the moment He’s given us, and take in the feeling of this dawn in our lives before the sun rises and we begin a new day.