Extra Ordinary Time.

If the church's liturgical calendar is suppose to mirror not only the seasons of the year and the lectionary, but the seasons of our lives (birth, celebration, death, resurrection, etc), I feel like the last several months have been very Pentecost for me.  Not in the "everyone wear red this Sunday!" way, but in the long stretch of time through the summer in which we simply carry on.  It is often called Ordinary Time.

Perhaps this is not the best analogy.  It's not like things haven't been busy or changing rapidly.  Plenty of curve balls have been thrown (Surprise! You're moving back to Houston for the summer!), but I don't feel the roller coaster ups and downs as much as I usually do.  Maybe I'm getting used to them, maybe they aren't as big as they seem.  Right now I feel like I'm in ordinary time; soldiering on, because that is just what you do.

I think a big part of my personality comes from my grandfathers; family men, consummate churchmen, and men with close friends that they loved.  A big part of both their personalities was simply doing what needed to be done without much complaint.  JUst pressing on despite obstacles, because that's just what you do.  I know it's a generational mind set common to many of the "builders" but it is something that really stuck with me.

The season of Pentecost is often symbolized by wheat or other growing things.  It is ordinary time, but it's a time for growth and renewal.  Since KB and I will get to spend the entire summer together, we're counting on some of that.  The last few weeks I have really felt the lack of hours together compounding like interest, and need very much to pay back some of that debt of time.  It will be good to have a season to be together, to grown and renew, and to find joy in the ordinary.  Thank God for extra ordinary time.

Editor's note: this post isn't as well written as I want, but I also want to be better about regular updates, so...take what you can get.