Seasons changing

"For years I have dreamed of a life that would allow me ample time to read and reflect and pray and meditate for hours about things of the Lord, and at the same time I have consistently filled my schedule with busyness and proceeded to wonder why I never have time to develop all of the spiritual disciplines I pray for... I don't know how long this time will last. But I do know this: I enter every situation in life purely by the grace of Jesus, and the only appropriate response is to live it for His glory. So I will strive, in this time of empty days, of hours and hours stretching out before me, to build the discipline I never had before."
- from my first entry in this blog, August 8, 2009

10 months and 100 entries later, and the seasons are changing. I have found myself scrambling these past few weeks to get my feet under me. My days of empty hours and unlimited solitude are drawing to a close, and new things are on the horizon (though still far enough away that I can only watch and wait until they come into closer focus). But the wind is picking up, the tides are changing, and off I go.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven."
-Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 3:1

I have loved this season. I have loved the hours of silence, prayer, delving deeper into God's Word, depending on Him to supply the needs the world could not meet. It has been a time of rest and healing, of training, of preparation, of building habits that I pray I will carry with me on the next leg of the journey. May I greet the future with the fondness I have for the past.

Renewed thinking

"What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9

"He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!'" Revelation 21:5

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2

There is hope, there is life, there is joy.

Binding speech

I've been thinking lately about words-- specifically promises and vows, spoken commitments, and their decreasing power in our day. Throughout the Old Testament, an emphasis is placed on carrying out your commitments. The books of the Law strain over and over the weight of vows and the importance of honoring them, and Solomon affirms this in Ecclesiastes 5:5, saying, "It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it."

Even outside of the Bible, looking to history and literature up to the 18th and 19th centuries, a truly respectable person was a man of his word. If a person spoke a promise, he carried it out, regardless of changing circumstances or desires. At a cursory glance, this looks ridiculous. Should a person be unhappy and stay tied to a wrong decision made rashly? I would argue that such a mindset prevents rash and meaningless speech. As the spoken word has become less and less binding, we feel more and more free to speak whatever will get us the desired results in the moment, knowing we can back out later from whatever we commit to now.

I want to be a woman of my word. If I speak boldly of anything, I want it to be truthful and earnest. I don't want to be given to extreme statements and sensationalism, and I don't want to vow and break vows lightly. I want my yes to be yes and my no to be no and my promises to be worth something, made in light of careful consideration and prayer. And it makes sense that these are the people I want around me. In hard times, you turn to the friend whose word is his deed. I want to be that friend-- consistent, measured, and faithful.