Happy Family-Season (Ps 104:12-13)

My sis took this pic. It's mom's backyard in NH.

September 21 was the official beginning of fall. For me, though, the weekend after Halloween seems like the real change of the seasons. Halloween, with its fairs and festivals, corn mazes and pumpkin patches, bonfires and frightful feasts, seems more like summer's last hurrah.

Now, the trees are shaking off their leaves. The coats, scarves, hats, and boots have been moved out of their hiding spots. Calendars are filling with holiday happenings. 

So, I'm thinking we need to rename the seasons.

Family Season: November & December.

One of my lovely "other" families.
God puts families together.
By birth or by other means.

Dear-old-dad trying to decide where to draw the line between need and want.

That *is* what the holidays are supposed to be about, right? I mean, there are those who would say it's more honest to call it the shopping season, but those people just don't have the right kind of loved ones. This is a great time to be thankful for the blessings we already have, and to make more memories, together!

Celebration Season: June - October.

How can you not celebrate when
there's yummy goodness on the grill?

Vacations. Staycations. Fairs. Festivals. Carnivals. Barbeques. There's just so much to celebrate!

Awakening Season: April & May. 

My sister, again. She does some great stuff with her camera!

Have you ever walked in a garden in the Spring? Or worked with tweens/teens?  Flowers opening to the sun. Tragic mudslides. Beauty and devastation, side by side. Teens and flowers. Yup. Spring.

Quiet Season: January - March. 

January 2012, Steilacoom WA, during the "snowpocalypse."

With just a few tiny exceptions, there's really not much happening at this time of year. We're recovering from the togetherness (and expense) of family season, and preparing for the coming awakening & celebrations. Plus, there's the likelyhood of snow. Hmmm... sounds like a good season for sleeping, reading, and rediscovering yourself. Oh, and the average person lasts until about March (less than 100 days) with their New Year's Resolution. Seems like a good time to change the subject -er- season.

Now that we're on the same page, let me say it again. Welcome to family season. Enjoy this time with family and friends. Celebrate the many ways they make your life richer, better, more fun, more interesting. Whether you are looking at falling leaves or twinkling lights, think of the countless little ways your loved ones make your life more colorful, and count yourself blessed. I know I do.

In the trees near by, the birds make their nests and sing. From the sky you send rain on the hills, and the earth is filled with your blessings.                            --Psalm 104:12-13 GNT

On moving forward... (Prov. 9:12)

Last Friday, a member of the local Sherrif's department came to give an assembly for all the 5th graders at my school. Most of these 5th graders have been with our school for many years. More than half of them come from "challenging" backgrounds. For them, 5th grade really marks a crucial dividing line. Up until now, the deputy reminded them, they've been surrounded by people who know them well, and are working with them, as they develop their characters. Next year begins a whole new era of personal accountability.

At the heart of his presentation was a message about setting goals and working toward them. He shared how he is working to further his education, taking online classes at night after getting home at 2a.m.. He told the kids that his drive was to be a better person, husband, father, friend, officer next year than he was this year.

Of course, that's what we all want, isn't it? To be a better person next year? To develop as human beings? It certainly is what God wants for us.

Yet how many of us really stop to examine our personal, long-term goals - regularly - and work toward them faithfully? I know I don't. Not that I don't set goals. Or accomplish things. As any one who's known me long can tell you, when I make my mind up to do something, it gets done.

Unless it doesn't.

Usually the "doesn't" covers the things that actually would improve me as a person. I can plan for a vacation, no problem. This summer I checked at least 3 items off my bucket list. But there are some long-term goals I've had for a while that I've done next-to-nothing about. 

Yes, progress is being made.
But don't ask how long those cups have been around. 

So, I realized I'm not a novelist about a year after I bought this magazine.
But I am an essayist. And much of the same logic/discipline applies.

I've yet to meet a Christian who really felt they "got" Revelation.
I keep meaning to *really* study it. And the prophets. Oh, and the law.
Clearly, I could certainly spend more time  internalizing God's message to His children.
(Book by a friend, Keith Ferrin, available at this link.)

The uncomfortable truth is that I'm much better with short term goals than long term ones. Accomplishing things keeps life interesting, and makes me feel like I'm getting somewhere. Sometimes I am. But not having long-term goals is the same as refusing to look at the bigger picture. And God created us as eternal beings. There's no avoiding the fact that life is lived long-term.

Of course, long term goals require a plan. And some patience. Not to mention perserverence. Those are 3 p's I really struggle with (believe it or not!). Thank goodness for prayer. Because when it comes to thinking long-term, I know I need God's help.

So I'm carving out time today to consider the deputy's questsion: "How will I be a better person next year than I am today?" I already have a couple of ideas. Based on my history with short-term goals, I am confident that, God willing, I can achieve it.

And won't that be a day to celebrate?! 

You are the one who will profit if you have wisdom; and if you reject it, you are the one who will suffer.

(HA! You were expecting 1Cor9:24, weren't you? I thought about it. Really I did.)           -Proverbs 9:12 And if I were you, I'd peek back at Proverbs 8, too.

New Year's Resolutions

It's cliched, I know, to make resolutions. It is much easier not to break resolutions you don't make, so that's been my thinking the last few years. Avoid failing myself by skipping the whole thing.

This year, though, I'm taking a braver stand. I'm declaring some goals for the year, and stepping forward in full confidence that I can and will do what I set out to do.

So, in 2012, I will give myself (at least) 1 hour each day.

15 minutes to write in a journal, memory book, story, or blog.

15 minutes to read something uplifting, inspiring, or otherwise edifying.

15 minutes to walk & breathe.

15 minutes to meditate on how much God loves me.

Now, obviously that's not much time for any of these. Ideally, I'll find myself so engrossed I'll spend a little more time in each worthy pursuit. Yet I sit here, thinking over the last month or so, and recognize that such a small commitment will be a HUGE improvement from my recent past.

To tell the truth, my last blog post (Nov. 10) was the last serious writing I did (unless you count the endless Christmas-card letters).  I *may* have logged a total of 60 minutes this month reading a couple inspirational works by CSLewis and Brennan Mannering. Maybe. Most of what I read over my Christmas break was cotton-candy for the brain. I read the YA series The Hunger Games. I read 5 of those short Christmas novellas that magically appear everywhere this time of year. I read 3 magazines: Oprah, People, and Saturday Evening Post. I read a mystery by James Patterson. I read some of my favorite children's Christmas books. As for walking and breathing... well... um, yea. I live just under two miles from one of the most gorgeous views around, but I can't tell you the date of the last time I walked down to see it.

I can't even tell you how far I've gotten from really feeling God's love. Gasp, if you will, but be honest.  I'm not saying I think God doesn't love me. I'm saying I've gotten so caught up in "my world" that I've forgotten how to see that love. I expect to write more on that as the year progresses. 

My resolutions are tiny. I will, most likely, miss a step every so often (in fact, I didn't walk today). But even little things make a big difference. Like a smile from a friend.  One extra "snooze" in the morning. A baby. A pair of comfy socks. A cup of coffee. 5mph on the freeway. So, a little bit at a time, I resolve to spend the next year getting closer to the me I want to be.