Season to Season

Our family travelled six hours north of here at the beginning of July for a great week of family camp. I was thankful for the very loose structure of the week, allowing us a lot of time to enjoy just being together and enjoying this beautiful piece of this province. Every morning the adults met for a time of worship and teaching and I so valued the timeliness of the speaker's topic. I found it coming back to me this morning as I prepare for a big week of transition into a different season of busyness.

For six mornings we looked at the book of Ecclesiastes. Hardly enough time to get a deep understanding of this rich book of Scripture, but a great chance to get a feel for this book, bits of it are very familiar as they lend well to political speeches, folk songs, and both wedding and funeral services. Basically the author explores what life would be absent from God, putting various pursuits in place of chasing after and focusing a life on the Lord. It's the same old stuff that people chase after today, all those fleeting things that just don't last. What I do see now is that the book smacks of a life off kilter. All these things have been given to us for our enjoyment and to enrich our lives - wealth and wisdom, for example - but putting any of those things in the place of most importance leads to a life of emptiness. It seems so easy to get a bit off track.

Why am I thinking about all this? Today I start teaching music lessons again. It will be a bit of an experiment as I have scheduled a few lessons during the day while my husband is still at work. I'm trusting my kids to do okay without me for short bursts of time, in cooperation with some other moms who have agreed to stay with them while I teach their kids. We started our fifth year of homeschooling last Monday, after a blissful summer of vacationing and enjoying a lot of play time. Church activities swing into full gear in the next couple of weeks. I've had a cool opportunity to be a Guest Design Team member on Scraptivity! for the month of September (I've asked Gary to refer to me as "Miss September" until that time is up). There are women in my life who I continue to meet and study with. Oh, and I have a household to tend to and children to raise. Any one of those things could easily shift the balance of importance. Most of all my desire is to stay on track, following Him through all the twists and turns of each season.

I wish you joy as you walk through whatever season you are in right now.

Oh, the canvas above is a project I completed a couple of weeks ago for a basketball-playing friend of mine. It was great fun to work on and the verse has special meaning for her. Thanks for looking!