Happy Wednesday TSJ Peeps!
Solomon is quite earnest in sharing today’s thoughts. Notice he is proudly sitting next to TSJ’s new golden spade! He thinks it is a symbol for all of us as we face a new season (both figuratively and literally).
This golden spade is a gift to us from our wonderful realtor who has guided us kindly and carefully through this whole process of inching our way through grief to changing the scenery of our future work in TSJ.
We had a groundbreaking ceremony at our new TSJ home base late Sunday afternoon. Rein (realtor) offered a blessing, a toast, jokes and encouragement. I put the spade in the hard ground and hit a rock. I was reminded breaking new ground can be difficult! Struggling to get some dirt, I heard my friends and son,Tim, call out much encouragement. They reminded me rocks help build a strong foundation!
And I want to call out that same encouragement to you today by sharing what this experience is teaching me.
Change can be challenging. Most of us are feeling it keenly as summer slips away from us!
The days are shorter and the nights are longer. The air feels different. Birds are feeding feverishly. Our children are getting restless and moody. We too have mixed emotions creating unpredictable moods at times. Many, many of us are preparing for a new season in our lives.
Each school year brings with it anticipation, dreams and visions, hope and concerns and both sadness that vacation days are behind us, and relief to be back on clearer schedules and bedtimes. A sense of purpose infiltrates the veins of young and older. For some it is all good. For others it brings a myriad of unspoken worries.
In reality, everyday we are in the act of breaking new ground. It is just this time of year with so many changes, ground breaking feels more monumental. Perhaps it feels that way because in a sense we are building monuments. . . .lives that are a testament to having lived, worked, and loved here on the planet.
But I quickly realized building this house shovel by shovel does not depend on me. Just as building our dreams never depends on us alone. It is a shared endeavor.
Sometimes you need more than a spade! The big earth moving equipment came in on Monday. Wow!
So our TSJ home depends on and is shared with the work and talents of many . . . builders, designers, equipment operators, sales people, realtors, lawyers, surveyors, appraisers, manufacturers,painters, brick and stone layers. It is also shared with friends, family, children, teachers, clergy, I think you can fill in what I have left out.
The building of our lives, our future, our children’s dreams is a shared experience too.
After the groundbreaking ceremony I went to our daughter’s home and once again was privileged to see the strong foundation and beauty being created as the children (antsy to start school) told tales of summer activities that have created shaping new dreams (possibilities) for the kids, and of school shopping ahead and last minute family outings. All ordinary. Little shovels full of life experience. The kids went off to play and we adults shared hopes and dreams, challenges and memories around the table.
Yes, I believe we are all building our future one small experience at a time. And it is good enough. Sometimes we dig deep in the soil of people’s hearts, sometimes we plant a seed and water it, and sometimes we simply sit around the table and take in nourishment for body and soul from one another.
I felt so blessed and was looking for the right word to describe the feeling. Amy found the word...“fortified.”
When breaking new ground it helps to find things that fortify or strengthen us. Sometimes it can even be symbolic like the groundbreaking ceremony Rein planned to bless and fortify my dreams.
Solomon reminded me that ancient wisdom in the sheep fields says that family, friends, and faith help keep us safe from evil.
Who knew that a ten minute ceremony would bring so many little lessons for me to explore?
Someday when someone goes through my “things” and sees the golden spade they may wonder. But hopefully the house will have been built and the memories will have been so great that the little shovel with a red bow will have fulfilled its purpose.
Or maybe it will remain a small monument to the building of big dreams. . .
Enjoy the last few days of summer and get ready for the breathtaking beautify of fall. “For everything there is a season.”
Happy shepherding!
Margie
