The Summer of Setting Goals

The temperature is hot and I am sunburned, and just can't seem to get comfortable, so I remembered I have a blog. Might as well post something new.

This summer is completely different than any summer I have had as an adult. I have been a teacher ever since I got out of college (thank you Lord!). Back in 1988 a friend and I shopped in a new teaching supply store and I took a summer job application. I stayed for 21 years! Not just summer, but all through the year.

I also often take on some tutoring during the summer. It has been good, but definitely not the summers of doing nothing that so many people assume on to teachers.

Last year, the store closed in February. Out of business. Boom.

But God timed that. I would need the summer to care for my mom. In retrospect, I am so thankful I had the time to do what I needed to.

Cut to June 2010. A summer without a schedule. Dad does not need help, though we see each other often. I have no tutoring currently. It would be easy to get lost in grief, in sadness, in laziness. So, I have felt God nudging me to set some goals. There are things I have not done in many years and it is time to challenge myself.

Now don't expect to read of me hiking the Appalchian Trail or training for a triathlon. These challenges are so much more basic. They are the challenge of emotion. Revisiting insecurity and trying to work past it. Getting in touch with people I have ignored OR that I have been ignored by. My life is very much the same as it has always been and by comparison, most of my childhood friends went on to get married, have kids etc and I am insecure about showing myself just as I am. I am not unhappy. I am (almost always) content. But God is showing me that contentment does not mean resting on my laurels and not allowing Him to grow, change and stretch me. He may have more things planned for me than I ever think of, or He may want me as I am.

I may get specific on a different day, but right now, I am working to set appropriate and important goals. I need to evaluate myself carefully. Mom is gone, the family dynamic is changed. We love each other still, but things are different.

I have currently met one goal and have met 2 steps of a much bigger goal! Baby steps!