The British preacher Charles Spurgeon is quoted as once having said, “By perseverance the snail reached the ark.”  I really like that.  I can remember being little and announcing I was seven and a half.  I always wanted to be older because I thought that’s where “IT” would be.  You know, the elusive “IT” that means life is at its greatest.  Sometimes I wonder if I’ve already lost “IT” with the deaths of my much beloved parents.  Sometimes I wonder if I’ve finally achieved “IT” with being married and having a child.  I’m not saying that’s for everyone, by the way; I just always wanted to have a family of my own.  And doesn’t it seem as if summers lasted forever when you were young?  I know it did for me.  Life was full of endless possibilities and was going to be even better when I reached “IT.”  At first “IT” was getting into college, then “IT” was graduating, after that “IT” was buying a condo, next “IT” was at last finding The One.  I thought the final “IT” was having my daughter.  Now I realize I have so many more “ITs” to go.  I feel as if life is a roll of wrapping paper letting itself out slowly but going faster with the passing of each year.  My little one keeps asking if she’s a kindergartner instead of being in Pre-K.  I want to tell her to it relish “IT” as long as she can.  Time is such a precious gift and how we choose to spend it says a lot about where our heart is.  Mine is with my cherished miracle child and my impossibly handsome husband.  “IT” is simply too dear to be rushed.  Now I just want “IT” all to move as slowly as a snail.