There is this oak tree about mid-way on our morning walk. Each morning, Josiah and Ellianna ask “take a picture! take a picture?” And I have. It is a visual timeline of them, this last year, and you can see how they’ve grown and changed in a little increments across the days. It is striking to note just when Ellianna started the downward spiral into illness- it is written all over her face, getting worse and then better. I am reminded again how much each day counts with these little ones. Like so many other things, there are days that I did not want to stop, so annoyed with their request, “can’t you see it is raining cats and dogs?” Some days I remembered to stop and they wanted to keep on going. It’s a larger metaphor for my parenting, I know. I am so grateful for their quirky request- getting to see them grow day by day has been a much needed reminder each day how I should invest my time.