Final Days

Today is my last full day in this house. I have lived here for about eight years, and so many things have changed. When my family moved into this house, we were four with a dog and a cat. I was just starting second grade, my little brother was just starting kindergarten. Now, as we move out, we are six with two dogs. I am a rising junior in high school, and my brother is graduating eighth grade tonight! I look back on all of the wonderful memories I have here and smile. The move is going to be bittersweet. I am very excited about our new house- but can't help but feel a twinge of sadness. 
As I was reminiscing, I noticed that all of my fondest memories are of the little things. The big events were amazing, of course. But, the most precious moments are the times when I was swimming in the pool, and as I came up for breath our (deceased) precious dog would run over and lick all the water off my face with her warm, sticky tongue. Or when I woke up on Easter morning, looked out my window, and saw a blue jay fly past as I stared in child-like wonder at all the little, plastic, brightly-colored eggs littered throughout the yard, poking out behind fence posts and sitting on the batting tee. Or running around the backyard, jumping off the wooden barrier around the playground in the warm afternoon sun.
Yes, I'm going to miss this place. But, I'm thrilled to turn a new page, to start a new adventure. And as Bilbo said from The Lord of the Rings, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't kick your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to," I'm ready to be carried down a new road, a fresh start. And, if I begin to fear- I know I can find hope in the fact that God will be there at my side, shining His light through the darkness, that I might hold fast to the narrow path.

May God bless all of your new adventures as well! :)