Anything But "Ordinary Time"

I've got several unfinished posts from earlier this week, trying to get my thoughts organized around this time of the year. This morning, I gave up. I kept hoping to tie my thoughts into our return to the liturgical season of "Ordinary Time," but it's just not happening.

Right now, my house may appear to be "ordinary," but my life is not ordinary in the least.

I'm juggling four big projects, in addition to my usual duties as mom, wife, teacher, housekeeper.

First, the recovery stuff. This week was a good one for breaking through in that area. I need to make quiet time for prayer, journaling, and meditating a regular part of my week, so that I can continue to see improvement.

Second, I am doing some development work for the food pantry where BigBro and I volunteer every month. I've promised them a commitment of 2 hours each week, and even have the time set aside: piano lessons. I am here in the house, anyway. The kids are otherwise occupied. Seems like a good time to designate for pantry work.

This week, I had a good start. I emailed a contact at the local paper, hoping for some free publicity in the form of an article. He went way beyond. He agreed to the article. Then, he set up a February food drive in his office to benefit our pantry. The next day, he called to offer me a sizable donation from another community organization in which he serves. He dropped off the check on Friday afternoon, and I had the absolute delight of delivering it to the pantry this morning. (With the caveat not to expect such magic every single week, of course!)

Third, I am running another women's retreat at Vision of Peace in the end of March. I am really excited about this retreat. I've been meditating, writing, and praying about the topic for over a year now. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out in a retreat format. And, I'm incorporating a lot more music, guided meditations, and quiet prayer sequences into the organized sessions. This will be my third retreat at Vision of Peace... each one teaches me so much. I can't wait to see what I learn from this one.

And, the buzz on the retreat is exciting, too! After only a week of advertising it, there are only 2 spaces left. I have some returning retreatants and some new retreatants, an eclectic mix of women that should enhance the whole retreat weekend for everyone!

Finally, I have committed to do some contract work for my former pastor in his new parish. We met yesterday to lay out a plan that will keep me busy through all of 2011. I am really excited about this. I will be writing, designing and giving presentations, offering half-days of reflection, and coordinating voluteers and other resources. It is an incredible opportunity to stretch myself personally and professionally.

So, here I am, at the end of the first week in Ordinary Time, feeling anything but. I am excited, energized, challenged, and looking at a large pile of commitments. I was awake in the middle of the night, mind racing with possibilities. All is good. Some is harder than others, some more work, some more stress, but all is good.

I can't think of a better place to start Ordinary Time.