So last year I started blogging about things in terms of “leaves of change.” And by May I was so busy I dropped the posts. Not to say I didn’t think about things, I just never sat down & wrote about them. I guess when I decided to approach 2010 as a year of “turning over new leaves,” I didn’t realize just how much change I was in for! So, here is a summary of things that changed in the second part of the year:
My last leaf, #5, was about deepening relationships. While living in Kings Canyon, this took a very conscious effort. It meant socially-crammed Sabbaths as I took advantage of my only opportunity for cell service each week. And it meant that after services, I stayed & fellowshipped, regardless of when sundown would be & how much of my drive from Bakersfield to Kings Canyon would be after dark. Often, I drove partway home Saturday night & finished the drive early Sunday morning. My church family really cared about & for each other, and I could share all the ups & downs of life with them. Snacks/potluck would often include sitting down with one of my “adopted Dads” & really opening up about whatever was on my heart that week. There were also surprise visits from friends & a Yosemite camping trip.
Apparently, this focus of mine also indicated (or produced? not sure which came first) a readiness to build the type of relationship that led to dating again (the first time in 6 years that I’ve been seriously on board with the possibility of sharing a future). Ironically, it was in the isolation of the Canyon {insert cries of: “my social life is on hold until I get out of here!”} that this relationship started. God sure does have a sense of humor & reminds us that He can orchestrate anything.
I also put some action to my previously expressed desire to be closer to family, and after the Labor Day holiday I left my job in California to move back to Tucson with my parents & little brother. This also put me closer to my sister & brother-in-law in Phoenix. It has been interesting living at home again, but I think it has been helpful.
Well, leaving that job meant finding a new one, so that was yet another change in 2010. I got a position at a local outdoor gear retailer as an assistant store manager. New coworkers, new company, new products, new atmosphere, lots for me to learn!
It’s looking like this theme of change has carried over into the new year of 2011, also:
That new job and I ended up not being the best fit for each other, and I was let go. That’s the first time I’ve not left a job by choice, so it was a new experience to process. And, again, means looking for a new job. More change. I’m also considering that perhaps my time at home has been momentarily fulfilled and my new job will be in a new state. I’ll let you know what comes of that. Also, most of you know about things that have been going on in UCG through 2010 and now the formation of CoGWA in 2011. All the changes in leadership & the new organization have had an impact on me, but I’ll save elaboration for another time. It’s enough for now just to list it as another change in life.
And to wrap up all this talk about changes, I’m announcing a new blog theme! It seems in the past several months I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I think of things, and the theme of “reflections” kind of hit me. So while I may still throw in here posts about turning over new leaves, I’ll also start writing pieces that are more pensive or reflective.
~Michal Lisa~
The Philosopher
By Sara Teasdale
I saw him sitting in his door,
Trembling as old men do;
His house was old; his barn was old,
And yet his eyes seemed new.
His eyes had seen three times my years
And kept a twinkle still,
Though they had looked at birth and death
And three graves on a hill.
“I will sit down with you,” I said,
“And you will make me wise;
Tell me how you have kept the joy
Still burning in your eyes.”
Then like an old-time orator
Impressively he rose;
“I make the most of all that comes,
The least of all that goes.”
The jingling rhythm of his words
Echoes as old songs do,
Yet this had kept his eyes alight
Till he was ninety-two.
~*~
