A New Season

 On March 1, Thomas officially became the fill-in pastor for our church. In July, he will receive the appointment for the following year. He will be a bi-vocational pastor, continuing on at his current employment, but adding some duties as a pastor, including preaching, special worship services, on-call needs, and various committees.

On February 27, we had our first all cast rehearsal for A Midsummer Night's Dream with Immanuel Christian School. Performances are May 8th, 9th, and 10th. I am directing. The boys are both acting. Until Easter, we are still in our Winter Term, so the boys regularly have five to six subjects every day, except Wednesday which has Instrument lessons and Science Lab.

Today is the first day of Lent. We have been doing a meat fast during Lent the past few years, but this year, we have decided that the extra planning a meat fast requires would push me over the edge of sanity. So we are fasting from desserts and sleeping in. We are giving up computer games, which hits the boys hardest, but we are planning to have family game nights. 

So we are entering a new season. 

The immediate season, Lent, reminds us of Jesus's forty days in the wilderness, facing temptation, which in turn was a reminder of the forty years, the people of Israel spent in the wilderness. I have been thinking about the amount of time we humans spent waiting. There is a part of me that rebels against waiting; it is so inefficient, such a waste of time. But I am learning that waiting on God is a very deliberate action. It is not trying to fix the problems I see, but rather tell them to God and wait.

The beginning of the play season was a good preparation for waiting of Lent. Several times I couldn't see a way ahead within my limitations. Choosing the play, finding the right cast, and having a venue to perform in, all required me to wait on God and not try to fix things. For example, some of the students who auditioned were not able to perform, so I needed to find some more older students to take those roles. The next day, two home schoolers who had acted with us before, hadn't heard about auditions and contacted me and my dad (who directed last year) to see if we were doing a play. They were the perfect people to play the open roles.

Tonight's Ash Wednesday Service was Thomas's first as pastor. It was a very beautiful and meditative service, focused on bringing our hearts before God. The point of Lent isn't simply self-denial, but drawing close to God. When I went forward to get my ashes, I looked up at Thomas and he smiled. I was filled with thankfulness for him, not only as my husband, but also as my pastor.

Some seasons come and go, marking the passage of time. But perhaps, we are also going through a climate change.