Push and Pull

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

since as members of one body you were called to peace.

And be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Since Monday was a holiday, today feels like the fresh start of the week.  And looking ahead at this week's list and then beyond, I realize that this will be the last push in what has felt like a steady-with-varying-degrees-of-intensity five month stretch.  

It surprised me, just yesterday when I noticed it while Ken and I did a 'calendar meeting.'  An honest assessment of my schedule would reveal that it has been pretty much non-stop from one thing to another since we closed the cottage at the end of September and stepped back into what I call our 'city life.'  Even with work-rest balances in place, and given the fact that I truly do press into work with joy, it's just been a reality that I have been in the thick of things pretty much consistently for quite some time.

After this week I have no trips to prepare for, no big seasonal expectations in either my ministry or personal life, no sermons on tap this spring, no major fundraising or other events on the calendar as yet.  Even with what is on the calendar, and there are some happy things I'm looking forward to for sure, most of the prep work is well in hand, and, well, it just won't require the same number of meetings, or the same kind of mental focus.  Not for the next little while at least.  Between now and Easter, more or less.  Hmmm....

Should I post such a thing?  Freer schedules have the habit of inviting random invitations as to how to fill up the space.  I will resist.  Mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually....I must.  In these quiet moments before this 'last week of push' begins, I am sensing a 'pull' towards peaceful protection.  Towards something important and bigger, but not louder.

Paul makes a plea to the Colossian Church to let our hearts be 'ruled by the peace of Christ.'  Because we are not called to press and push and produce, but to peace.  And to be thankful.

Lent is upon us.  Starts tomorrow.  I didn't plan it this way.  But perhaps...?

And in this moment, a hush.  And a quiet curiosity to see where this might take me.