Perfection

Walking outside this morning to water the garden and watch the dogs play I was delighted to find the perfect time of day. A balmy 73 degrees with a cool breeze. Fabulous! Too bad it'll be gone in an hour, if it takes that long. Reflecting on this quick glimpse of a comfortable summer led me into these next thoughts.

Isn't it interesting how we imagine our "perfect circumstances"? I don't think reality quite ever matches those images. Mostly, I think, because God loves to blow our minds. This morning I've been traveling down an interesting path: considering going back to school. As I've mentioned before these thoughts come to me a couple times a year, but today I pursued it a little more. Not to say anything will come of it, but I'm finding that it is a desire in my heart.

If you had asked me when I was in 2nd grade what I'd be doing at age 26 (creeping up on 27), I would have told you that I'd be a vet, married and have kids... and cats. Well, I'm 1 for 4 and glad that the cats are dogs instead. My image of the "perfect" life has morphed so much through the years. I'm finding more and more that the perfect life has nothing to do with education, career, accomplishments or awards. The perfect life is one in-tune with God. I'm fighting to find God's pitch at this moment. I can say that I've made strides in that I'm actually searching for His pitch and realizing that that is the only goal worth desiring, but I'm still testing out the tunes to find His.

He's given me so many passions in my heart, it's quite the challenge to find the one He is calling me to. In hindsight, I would have done college a little differently, to make some passions a little more feasible in my life today. But I have to remember that everything that I've done has been God's plan and I have to trust Him in that. Still, the "what ifs" don't always stay away.

So today, in my life I hope that God will shed some light on His plans for me. I'm excited to serve and desiring to grow, but need to tune in a little more to the Holy Spirit. I need to find contentment in my circumstances. Not to say that I need to settle, but I need to be overjoyed where God has me today. So I'll be working on that. Prayers much appreciated!

All this from a balmy 73 degree morning. Maybe I should cut back on the coffee!

2 weeks left of "freedom"

The countdown is on - 2 weeks until school begins. I remember counting down to summer like it was last week. I'm excited to go back to school. This used to be my favorite time of year! School supply shopping was/is like a holiday for me. Even though I'm no longer a student I try to go to Office Max and peruse the isles looking at what I would buy if I was a student. Sometimes I buy some new awesome pens or pencils. Or a new notebook. Remember when Trapper Keepers were the coolest? Or Lisa Frank folders, pens, and such? Oh those were the days! I remember the first time I was supposed to buy a Ti-81 calculator... it was like a mini-computer! And we could play games on it! (oh how those games would be mocked by today's technological advancements).

Aw yes, back to school. Even though I am no longer a student I look forward to going back and seeing the kiddos. Marveling at how much they've grown in a summer and (hopefully) matured. Meeting the new 4th graders and seeing the excitement they have to be there. (An excitement that is lost somewhere between 6th and 12th grade).

I'm sure that by the time another May comes around I will be in full summer countdown mode again, but for now I'm looking forward to the school year. Every now and then I play with the idea of going back to school to get my teaching degree. That time has come again also. Initially, that's what I majored in at college (first 2 out of 5 majors I tried). The only reason I didn't pursue it was because of the stories I heard about student teaching experiences. Looking back, that was a fairly foolish reason to not pursue it, but hindsight is 20/20.

So with these last two week of so called "freedom" (for me it is 2 weeks of not getting a steady paycheck, and a little too much time on my hands), I'm thinking of the kids who are getting new backpacks, the coolest pencil holders, awesome erasers and crazy pens and pencils. And I'm a little jealous.