Ryan's Thought for the Week 1.13.25

On Saturday morning, my youngest daughter was up at 6:15 a.m. asking to go play in the snow. We coaxed another 20 minutes from her before we got up, had coffee and breakfast, and went outside as the sun was finally coming up a bit. As she ran around outside, laughing with glee, I reminded myself that she was four the last time we had any measurable snow. My olderst daughter was enjoying herself, flopping down into the snow with grass blades poking up around her as she made a “snow angel” or at least an angel shaped patch in the snow. My wife and I were tired and unimpressed, but the girls’ joy was contagious. We took a walk and marveled at the ice covering leaves, branches and even the net on the basketball hoop. As the sun rose, the light caught the thin coating of ice and it was like everything was sparkling. 

I’m grateful for my kids in these moments even though they aren’t doing anything on purpose. They see things I can’t see anymore. They see the beauty and the fun in the most mundane things and through their eyes I can begin to remember what it was like to take things in for the first time. I’ve grown up too much. 

I’ll admit it’s been tough this week as I see the images from southern California and check-in on friends who are, for now, OK. And, as we all know, that’s just the latest difficult thing to take in. My goal in the days and weeks to come, as the days lengthen and summer feels closer, is to take a cue from my kids more often. To see the world through their eyes. I encourage everyone to take a moment this week to look at something we see all the time or have seen 1,000 times and try to see it through the eyes of one taking it in for the first time.