Yesterday my third grade daughter and her friend both had to redo a winter calligraphy vacation homework assignment. Annie woke up early the morning of back-to-school to write hers out, but apparently she hadn’t done it on the right paper.  

I loved watching these girls write… carefully preparing their thick brushes with the black ink and then dragging it over the crisp white paper. Each stroke was added firmly, with deliberation, as they wrote out the characters that spelled “New Years.”  In the lower right hand corner they scripted their names.  Haruna remarked to Annie, ‘You are lucky that your name has a lot less strokes to write.” 

I guess we all start out in the new year with crisp white paper, waiting for our brush strokes.  Some of us start out with different advantages.  But we all get some re-dos.  Thank you God!  

“So teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom…” Psalm 90:15