Back to School

I've been thinking a lot about the building blocks of my life lately. I used to love Fall, and going back to school. It's been 38 years since the first time I marched around on this field with the band, getting ready for football season. I loved everything about learning a new skill and following a leader, except how tired my body felt all the time. Back in those days, there was less information available, and we really took the time to learn things with lots of repetition. As I've grown, it seems that "training" has been condensed to the point that so many assumptions are made about what I know and there are so few teachers and leaders who are excellent at breaking down tasks and guiding students skillfully through repetitions that will, eventually, cement a set of skills that will be useful in the 'real' world. Neither do I seem to have the time to repeat tasks over and over to really learn them.

Ah, the beauty of learning. The beauty of Fall, marching bands, new school clothes and supplies.

I've been going back to a lot of basics lately, encouraging myself to assume less, ask more, try harder and be patient while I take the time to start again. It seems I am in a season of forcing myself to look at life as a beginner so that I will build new foundations which will enable me to keep pace with a constantly changing world. I find my habits are much harder to break at my current age, than they were in my youth. Habits that keep me from going to bed on time, from getting up early, from setting dirty dishes in the sink instead of the dishwasher... Yet, I still find that asking God, sincerely, for help to change, help to grow, help to learn, help to begin again, is the most reliable method of moving forward. He knows me so well.

Today, I was in a little town, and I went into a general store-the old fashioned kind- and bought a brightly tie dyed sweatshirt, sky blue, white and turquoise. I bought a new notebook and folder with lovely designs for a youth program that Mr. Contraptioneer, grammapat and I work with starting next week. It felt like starting over, like getting ready for the first day of school...and I felt excited...just like I did when I looked down the hill and saw the marching band in the field. I guess it's never too late to rekindle the joy of learning and embracing change. Even when our bodies and our minds scream, "I'm too old for this!" if we keep moving forward, there are still great rewards ahead for the efforts we make today.