The Smell of New Erasers

Looks like a rainy Monday morning.

That's okay, because after the abundance of this past weekend I'm all good with settling in all snug to work quietly inside.

And with so many conversations, so much crunched into the past two days, it's good to be back by the water to unpack and process.

It won't be an entirely quiet week though. Contrary to my concern that working and living up here for the fall would somehow make me "disconnected," I am "connecting" via meetings and conversations every single day this week. Such is the benefit (and responsibility) of technology.

And such is the nature of swinging back into fall's start up of life and ministry. With 'back to school' comes all the other rituals of seasonal new beginnings, and it's not just the changing colours or crisper mornings that signal a time of refocus. It's a collective sense of what I might call 'the smell of new erasers' that means we're ready for the ways our lives productively move forward within the framework of structure and routine between September and June, weather we're in school or not.

Sort of like how making your bed in the morning helps provide a more successful mindset throughout the day (Google Navy Seal Admiral William McRaven's inspirational speech), fall's 'reset' sets us up for the season.

I suppose I thought that, being away from the city, I might miss out on that 'new fall beginnings' feeling. Happily, such is not the case. There's still reports from grandchildren as to how the first days of school have gone. There's still an annual Garage Sale to organize. There's still the 'firsts' of gatherings and meetings, and kick off celebrations, and seasonal goal setting and mapping out of plans.

Yup. No problem. I'm feeling fall big time. Smelling all 'earaser-y' here.

Sadly, because I love doing this, all my fall décor is packed nicely away in storage, I'm not too worried though, because, hey, there's no lack of pine cones and acorns and (soon) coloured leaves right outside the door to be creative with. We've decided against getting a pumpkin for the deck, though, because....bears.

And yes, I realize, and very much hope that, in a few days some summer weather will be back for a visit. I have zero problem with that, and will be enjoying as much outside work on the deck as I can squeeze out of the next few weeks.

But in other ways, the fall feeling is upon us, and I'm ready.

To all those still adjusting to new routines, strength and patience to you as you pack those lunches and get everyone out the door this morning. May you be graced with little moments of delight in the small things, and may you be present enough in those moments to let them fuel your soul.

To anyone feeling disconnected, may there be moments of meaningful exchange, enough to remind you of how beautiful and important you are.

To everyone stepping out into new adventures this fall, may you be inspired and invigorated by all that possibility!

Monday, here we come!

Friday Feels

 

In stepping back into city rhythms of work and life, one thing I notice that doesn't happen in the same way up at the cottage is that lovely lift a Friday morning can bring.

Even when you love what you do as much as I do, and even with lots still happening on Saturdays and Sundays, having the weekend be "different" is good. Probably even more so as more and more of us work from home, and/or adjust our work/life balance for various reasons.

My morning walk this particular Friday was fresh but glorious. Coming down to my desk. I've lit my vanilla candle for the first time this season. So yes it's fall, and yay it's Friday, and I'm ready to wrap up this first full week of the season.

A favourite motivator of mine is 1 Corinthians 15:58.
I offer it as an end of the week huzzah to you.

"Therefore (because of the enduring hope we have in Christ), my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain."

So, my dear brothers and sisters, way to go!
We made it to another Friday, and God hasn't wasted a single thing done in His name and for His purposes, in all the ways those things can happen.

Stay steady.
Rest well.
Be encouraged.
And happy Friday!

Autumn's Ritual Reset

Laundry. That, and unpacking. When you've been stationed elsewhere for as long as I have, those two things become the priority. Have to, or you can't actually move very much around in your house.

But since it's September, and because I was determined not to let the drudgery-tasks completely take over, I found myself, almost by default working around all that, on this first Saturday back, to make sure I was well-nested.

There are few times each year when I do this. It's not just about coming back from the cottage, but, yes, that's a fair trigger. It's a re-ordering of my little corners. Beside my bed. To the right on my side of the couch. The tea stash. My desk downstairs, especially what's right at just-above-my-computer-screen eye level. Putting all the books I'll need in the next little while in the basket right behind my office chair. My underwear drawer.

Sorry if that last one is TMI. And also, I do understand different folks function best in different kinds of ergonomic realities.

But for me? I'm amused at realizing again how important it is for me to have a certain kind of order in rather specific physical spaces to be relaxed and ready for the fall season ahead. To have the things that nurture my soul within easy reach. To clear away distractions so I can give more attention to all the amazing souls with which I am privileged to commune. To have the spaces clear so the work can move forward unobstructed.

[By way of a slight rabbit trail, the Old Testament Book of Numbers is fascinating in terms of God's precision on the physical ordering of how the Israelites were to set up camp, and their travelling formation. Read it in a big chunk sometime if you haven't already. ]

It was a good day for this ritual reset. I was glad we came back on a Friday. It provided this one day as a free space to be able to make the transition between these two very different worlds of mine. And between the seasons themselves.

Tomorrow is Sunday, my hands-down favourite day of the week. It's kick off Sunday at Highview, as I imagine it is in many churches in Southwestern Ontario. It's the day when we're all 'back'. When our community of faith re-gathers and does a reset too.

I can hardly wait.

Now, if you'll excuse me, the washing machine just dinged at me again. Time to push through another load. And no, I didn't take a picture of the chaos of our laundry room.

You're welcome.

What I Love About Labour Day

It's the Labour Day Holiday Monday and we are here, home in the city, and I am really very fine with that.

There are a number of reasons Ken and I normally opt out of staying at the cottage over this weekend, noise and traffic being just two of them.  But if I think about it, the best part of this weekend for me every year is the chance it gives me to get my house in order.

By 'house', I don't just mean our physical home, but that's part of it.  It's more or less that sense that a new season of work is about to begin, and here's the chance to put everything in place - on the calendar, on my desk and workspace, on the bookshelves and files, in the closets (especially the sock drawer), in the kitchen, out on the porch - and basically anywhere where I will be working and living and moving.  If it's in place and in order now, not only am I better set up for success in anything that's on the books, but I am also better able to handle all the unexpected and incidentals that will no doubt and almost immediately require some time and attention.

While I am a summer girl through and through, I love September for this.

It's like a bit of a reset for the season ahead, that time between summers when 'regular life' and 'regular schedules' set the tone and rhythm of all the good work we get to do.

So all weekend that's been my unhurried, non-anxious focus.  And today I get to just finish it all up, straighten out all the last little things, and then get ready for a very casual meal together with friends at the end of the day.

"Unhurried and non-anxious" has been a lovely theme for me over the summer months.  While there was significant loss, I also had the time and space to grieve and rest and think and write and kayak and gather blueberries.  And be Gramma.  And it was healing and revealing.

A word, a concept, a theme that's repeatedly come up in the journaling and prayer times is "Enough."

This seems to me to be related to a few layers of nuance.  

One, it is a descriptor of my inner self right now.  Here at the beginning of a new season, I am replenished, restored, rested,  I do not have a sense of neediness in my spirit.  What I have is 'enough' and then some.  I am over the top grateful for this, as I can't recall feeling this content for a very very long time.  Past journals (which I brought with me to reflect on over the summer) confirm this.

But the other nuance, and this is more related to Labour Day and my approach to work, has more to do with the lovely responsibilities I have been given at this point in my life, my life's work, and a sense that loving and serving our children in Thailand is more than 'enough' for me to be doing right now.  I experience what the psalmist expresses in probably the most well known of the psalms, chapter 23: "My cup overflows."  

Beyond that, there is more to unpack from all of this.  To protect my "Enough" there will need to be some "nos", and some good discernment to go with.  And my tendency to overwork for all the wrong reasons is still part of my wiring.  But in my own spiritual formation, as I regularly submit all the ways I do not reflect the Jesus I say I follow to the Spirit's work in me, there is a movement on this, I think.  I hope.  

Today I am thinking of all the teachers, students, parents getting ready for a new season of school.

I am thinking of all the pastors and ministry leaders getting ready for a new season of serving.

I am thinking of everyone whose summer was anything but restful, and are heading into the next few weeks feeling anything but ready, and I am praying for you.  I've had those seasons too.  They're brutal and pressing and shows us what we're made of and how sufficient our God is.  

Strength and peace to you to all.