Few things bring that quiet smile to my face than the wild daffodils that bloom by the hundreds in our woods. Washed down from forgotten homesteads of days gone by, these daffodils fill the woods with bursts of yellow issuing in the first signs of Spring.

Usually, on the first warm day we are home, I take the kids on an overdue walk through the woods where we pick as many flowers as we can and bring them back to the kitchen.

Walking through the woods hand in hand with my two year old girls, and keeping that mindful eye on my boys and Esther racing through the trees way ahead of me couldn’t make my heart sing more.

These are the sweet moments that will always be set apart in my mind as the years go by. The days when we came home with flowers, rocks and toads in our pockets.

Sometimes it’s way too easy for me to hide away inside working at my computer while the kids play; feeling too overwhelmed and behind on my checklist to stop and savor a fleeting moment.

It’s all about priorities though, isnt it? Choosing to take that break, hold that tiny hand, name the toad Jake. (Every toad is named Jake at our house, so just in case you meet one you’ll know it by name.)

Work is always there and rarely can I tell you the blur of what happened on what day. But those special walks in the woods picking daffodils, those I’ll remember years to come.

I encourage you to seize that moment and make that memory wherever you are at. Make as many as you can. They are the bread that fuels the ordinary and difficult days ahead. They are the joy set before you and the glory that trails behind.

Leslie