where waves grow sweet

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19a

While I realize that January 1st is technically considered the new year, it feels like an interruption to something already begun; an attempt to redirect an already-flowing current. For me, the beginning of the school year is when things are truly new. It is the time of year when routine gets established and the pace is set for the following 10 months, holding everything together until the structure has grown old, begins to crumble, and can’t help but give way to the refreshing free form of summer.

But this special nugget of time – right now – is possibly my favorite time of year. It is for me “a world between the woods.”* The party of summer has yielded to a certain quietness that draws me in and calms me down. Guests have gone, trips have ended, anticipation of sweet times has been fulfilled. Yet time is still free and easy; the days remain warm and playful. The crunch of real life and its list of demands hasn’t set back in. This is a time of reflection for me. To honestly evaluate what matters. To decide what should fall away and what should be pursued. To make new year’s resolutions. My version, anyway.

I don’t have any to offer up quite yet, apart from a longing for simplicity and focus. I’m thinking and praying about what that will look like. But I am excited about this new year and fully believe it will surpass all the ones that have gone before. I’ll keep you posted… assuming that makes my list of resolutions. 😉

*The “world between the woods” is a reference to a hushed place of trees, light, and pools of water from The Magician’s Nephew (one of the Chronicles of Narnia). It is not a world in itself, but a link from one world to another.