September 2, 2012

Back to School

The unplanned hiatus from the blog is now over.  The start of school has monopolized my time and attention. That’s just the life of a teacher.  It’s the season of the start of school that obliterates all other focus as we begin the school year. It’s a season that happens each and every August.

And it’s led me to contemplate the “seasons” of life.  Not my first time to ponder on this, but definitely timely.

Where many may consider January the beginning of a new year, for me, it is August, the beginning of a new school year. Everything starts all over again.

Ecclesiastes speaks to the “routine” of life.  That’s an oxymoron really…the routine of life and yet, 

"What has been will be again,

     what has been done will be done again;

      there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

Nothing new, and yet how often I'm surprised with what I discover around the corner. Sometimes surprised with elation, and other times with trepidation.

If I held only to those words, that there is "nothing new," I would not be surprised ever would I? 

And yet I am.

So I need to keep reading...

Ecclesiastes 3:

"There is a time for everything,

  and a season for every activity under the heavens:

   a time to be born and a time to die,

  a time to plant and a time to uproot, 

   a time to kill and a time to heal,

  a time to tear down and a time to build,

   a time to weep and a time to laugh,

  a time to mourn and a time to dance,

   a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

  a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

   a time to search and a time to give up,

  a time to keep and a time to throw away,

   a time to tear and a time to mend,

  a time to be silent and a time to speak,

   a time to love and a time to hat,

  a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecc. 3:1-9)

The reminder for me today...

I may be surprised, but my Lord is not.

He's set forth the seasons just as He has determined my days.

AND..."He's made everything beautiful in its time."

The new beginnings, the same old routines, the welcome surprises, and the not so fun encounters around the corner = "He's made everything beautiful in its time."