Final Quarter

While our calendars say the New Year begins in January, the calendar in my brain thinks the start of the school year marks the beginning.  For most of the years I have been alive, the school year has been the anchor to my days.  

As a child, it meant new school supplies and new clothes.  As a teenager, it meant marching band and football games.  As a college student, it meant saying goodbye and returning to university.  As a children’s pastor, it meant new curriculum and seasonal events.  As a homeschool parent, it means preparing lessons for the child still at home.  As a parent of a college student, it means packing boxes and saying goodbyes.  As a current student, it means beginning classes again.  

By the time mid-September rolls around, we’ve usually been in school for many weeks.  Something about the season changing invites me to slow down and revisit the routines that make up my days.  As we roll into the final quarter of the year, it feels like a good time to take inventory and see what is working and what needs an adjustment.  

This week, I invite you to set aside a time to pause and reflect upon your current rhythms.

Here are some questions that might help you get started - 

• How are you doing with making rest a priority? 

• How is your water intake?

• How are things with you and God? 

• Are you involved in healthy community? 

• Have you read any good books lately? 

• Are you content with the time you spend on screens each week? 

• Is there anything that has become a rhythm that isn’t working? 

• Do you need to put a rhythm in place to help you in a specific way? 

• Do you need to schedule a yearly checkup with your doctor? 

• How is your mental health? 

• When was the last time you went for a walk? 

• What is something you hope to complete before the end of 2023? 

Any or all of these questions might be a jumping-off point for you to reflect on your particular season.  As we head into this final quarter of the year, we will find ourselves in different places, and that is okay.  

Nothing about this is prescriptive - it is just an invitation to slow down a bit and notice what makes up your days.  Maybe none of these questions resonate with you, or perhaps all of them do.  

Whatever questions you find yourself asking, invite the Holy Spirit into the process to help you see what you need to see and adjust what you need to adjust.  

~  Melissa