OnFire #73 Fall is Back

I'm back home again. It feels like we've been on the road all summer. As I think about it, it been a full one. We hosted a youth mission team, painted a house, vacationed on PEI for 2 weeks, Jan and the boys visited in New Brunswick for a week, we attended our Atlantic Baptist Convention meetings for almost a week, spoke at a retreat, and then travelled to PEI for my grandfather's funeral.

I'm looking at fall and I'm feeling just a little unprepared for everything ahead of us. The time I thought I would have to prepare got used, and fall seems a little overwhelming.

I guess that I'm not alone in this feeling. The fall brings us back to jobs, school, activities, programs, sports, deadlines, assignments. On top of all this, many of us volunteer and provide leadership in our churches and community. Its not much wonder we feel like we're not quite ready.

Despite all this, I think we can look forward to the fall. Why? I'm glad you asked.

Fall brings with it the chance to get back into old routines. Summer always seems to mess up my devotional time. Normally I spend time with God almost every day by reading the Bible, praying and writing in a journal, but summer travel unravels all this. Its not that I feel I need to do this in order for God to love me. Nor is it out of duty, like taking my vitamins or putting on sunscreen. Instead, I see this as a relationship, and I'm missing this regular time. It helps me feel closer to God and it helps me know what is really important. So it feels good to settle back into this old routine.

Fall brings the chance to establish new routines. This year Ian went to the high school. In Shelburne we only have two schools, one for p-6 and the other for 7-12. This change means he gets up at 6:30. At first I griped about having to get him up and giving up my private time in the morning. But then I realized that for two years this could be our time together. Its easy to gripe about changes to our routines, but instead of grumbling we need to look for the positive changes that could come from them.

Finally, fall gives us the chance to do a priority check-up. What are the things I REALLY need to do? I'm thinking about this a little as I look at all the things I have on my plate. This is the fullest my schedule has ever been, and new opportunities to write or be involved come regularly. I've never had to think about saying "no" before.

How will I handle this? There are some things which help me that might also help you.

I try not to panic when I feel overwhelmed. The instinct is to climb out from under the burden by doing whatever it takes. This feeling passes after a time, especially when I remember to take it to God.

I ask God for clarity and understanding to know what is important, and then focus to be able to do it. Often things come to me in prayer. When I feel most overwhelmed, I write out a list of the most important things I need to do before the end of the week, and then I start in, crossing them off as I go.

I ask for help. I'm very independent and don't like to do this, but it is important and I get more done this way. Someone recently suggested I podcast OnFire. It sounds like a good idea and fits with the vision I have for OnFire, but I don't understand the technology. Given time I could figure it out, but given my schedule it would take months. And so I asked a man from our church to help. This is a big relief. (I hope he feels the same way!)

As we head into this new season, we don't need to dread fall. Rather, it is a chance to get back into important old routines, establish some new ones, and reorder our priorities.