And so it begins

Today was the day! The first day of kindergarten. Overall it was a successful day.

I knew that she was feeling sad about missing us all day, so this weekend I made her a little photo album with pictures of us inside along with a verse to help her remember to be brave. I must say that this album helped her tremendously today!

Because they know that parents will never leave, the school has all the Kindergarten teachers receive their kiddos in the gym for the first day. So we took Eva into the gym and she got in line with the rest of her classmates, while all the parents stood around not quite knowing what to do with ourselves. That's when she started to get the pouty face. So Ryan and I went over to her to encourage her. It was a precious time for us. She told me that she wanted to hold her pictures, so we got them out of her backpack. She opened up to the verse I had written out and she asked me, "Mommy, what is that word again?"

"Courageous," I tell her. "Be strong and courageous! God is with you! Joshua 1:9."

She had told me while we were walking into the school a few minutes earlier that she was going to be brave like Esther. It's her favorite Bible story, as well as David and Goliath. We've talked a lot about being brave and doing things that seem scary to us.

"You are going to do awesome today and you are brave. Because why?"

"Because God is with me," she says.

I love that girl. Her heart is as beautiful as she is.

She had a good first day, even though I don't think she loved it quite as much as she loved preschool. She said her favorite part of the day was recess. :) She is ready to go back tomorrow, so I would say that makes the day a success!

Eva, we are so incredibly proud of you!