10 in 10

At the church that I pastor we've been doing a series entitled "Change & Growth". It's been a time of transition for us as a congregation (new name, now new location) so the theme has come in handy.

My question for myself, you, God, the universe in general, is: do we ever stop being in the season of transition? Even as Andrew and I grew accustomed to marriage, our in-laws, our new house, our new pets, our jobs, etc. there were other areas taking their turn at the Wheel of Fortune.

A new haircut, a birthday, traveling...even the seasons keep us actively adjusting to change. Today, for example, I left the house sweating (a friend, without exaggeration, tweeted this about Toronto's recent heat wave) and had to buy a cardigan at lunch because I'm shivering at the office.

I guess that's why Jesus called the Holy Spirit "The Comforter" and didn't promise us constant comfort.

During the whirlwind that was the time leading up to my 30th birthday and afterward, I failed to post a finale for my 30 Before 30 countdown. I think the first thing I decided to do in my 30s is NOT MAKE LISTS OF MORE THAN TEN ITEMS.

So I came up with a new list: 10 In 10. In the next decade I aim to:

1. Become a mother.
2. Have three books published.
3. Read all of C.S. Lewis' works.
4. Travel to Italy.
5. Move to High Park.
   
6. Take vocal lessons.
   
7. See everyone in our small group happily married.
   
8. To collaborate with Andrew on a CD.
   
9. Sharpen my prophetic gift.
   
10. GET MY DRIVER'S LICENSE.
    

What about you? Are you coming up to (or have you just achieved) a milestone in your life? What are the goals you've set to keep you moving forward?

A man thirty years old, I said to myself,
should have his field of life all ploughed, and his planting well done;
for after that it is summer time.
- Lew Wallace Everything

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty.
- Georges Clemenceau

At twenty years of age, the will reigns;
at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.
- Benjamin Franklin

return of the mack

Two months' hiatus must have done WONDERS for my readership however, for those of you still reading, you deserve an explanation. In the past two months I was laid off from one job, sat around eating up through my severance package for five weeks, interviewed for another job, interviewed for a second job, between the two jobs landed the one I preferred, and began this past Monday.

Add a husband who recently picked up a 3-week supply teaching gig in a special needs class, a lengthy list of things to do around the house that I finally had time to do, the announcement and consequent moving of the church we pastor to a new location, a trip to Montreal for our second anniversary (as per tradition), and my 30th birthday.

SO NOW YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS UP TO.

For my 30th, Andrew - the dear - bought me a very pretty new MacBook. My iBook G4 and I have had so many pleasant memories (I began this blog with her in 2005) but it was time for her to retire. The new MacBook erased any feelings of grief I might have felt.

A new decade, a new job, a church neighbourhood, a new set of dreams, and a new laptop to post on. Life is good.