Every December I select a word or phrase to be a focus for the upcoming year. In 2018, my word was “intent.” I had in mind an Ecclesiastes 3 year, where everything had a season and needed to stay balanced.
I started working for the city in 2015 and, as is typical for me in any new role, dove in with focus and intensity. That’s only sustainable for so long and I knew 2018 was a time to take my foot off the pedal (somewhat). As well, Kelly wanted me to decrease weekly evening events and increase at-home nights. Finally, Kelly and I also felt very strongly it was time to reinvest ourselves in a local church as active members.
Intent is a good place to start – action is a little more difficult. For example:
It was easier to slow the pace at work, but a slower pace served only to help us deal with several unplanned staff absences. Good thing we were going slower because we were able to tread water instead of drowning.
I didn’t run any marathons in 2018, and didn’t do any competitive paced races for that matter. Yes, I ran several races but I listened to podcasts, stopped for photo opportunities and just enjoyed the sights while running. As a result, I collected several finisher’s medals – along with several of my slowest race times in nearly a decade. I also caught my first cold in nearly a decade. Coincidence? I don’t know but I think I’m ready to start physically pushing myself again in my workouts.
We joined Prairie Creek Baptist Church and feel like we found the church home we’ve been searching many years to find. It’s on the small side for a DFW-area church, but it’s the right size for us. We know everyone and they know us. It’s also an incredibly diverse church, which reminds us weekly of the diversity of God’s kingdom. It’s good to be where people know us and our “stuff,” where we worship and study together, and where we’re building new strong friendships.
I did manage to cut down on evening activities (side note: Saying no is still hard, but surprisingly easier now that I’m practicing it on a regular basis), but Kelly added to his. To make matters slightly worse, we don’t seem to be in sync between his evenings and my evenings, so we tend to have just 1-2 weeknights together at home. I’ve compensated by going in slightly later to the office in the morning. I work a little from home after we workout together and have breakfast. The small time blocks you find to invest in one another matter a lot, I’m discovering.
Our family suffered the incomparable loss of my niece this year and I don’t think we would have navigated the heartbreak – and resulting time commitment by Kelly to travel to be with family for many weeks – if we hadn’t made these changes early in the year. It was, and is, good to have church family to grieve with, a caring and flexible work team to share the load, free time to simply sit together and cry, and a good group of running friends to keep us company over the miles with plenty of judgement-free light conversation.
I certainly wouldn’t want to repeat 2018 but as far as hard years go, this seems to be one of the easiest I’ve experienced to date. I couldn’t have imagined it being an Ecclesiastes year when I wrote it on January 1st, but that’s exactly what it’s been. And I’m especially grateful for the first verse:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1