Finishings.

In about two weeks, I will hit one of my favorite times of the year.

The first week back in the office will be over, and I'll have learned everyone's name and new cubical placements, caught up on everyone's summers, and settled in for another year of ministry. Football seasons will be just getting underway, and the hope of a decent season is still intact. Cooler weather settles in (I hope), along with changing leaves and beautiful landscapes to capture with my lens.

...And a certain pumpkin-flavored drink will appear at one of my favorite coffee shops down the road.

I have another simple reason for enjoying this time of year:  time is on my side. The new (school) year is just beginning. I only have a small number of very important things to work on, that don't take too much brain power. Meaning I can spend a majority of my time and energy mentally and physically preparing for the craziness that is ahead. I can reorganize my desk and filing system, clean out my e-mail folders, and update files and processes.

I love this stuff. Taking time to reorganize, realign and reformat things at the beginning will make me more effective when I get to my busy work seasons (TCX, SPDT, KC...all the important times of the year are apparently represented by acronyms).

The "beginning" stage is typically the most fun stage for me (diving into why that is true would take another post altogether). But lately I've been finishing things, and that's been fun, too. Here are a couple huge things I've been working on that will be finished soon, or have recently finished:

1. Preaching my first sermon.
Last week my pastor was out of town and I stepped in for him to preach a sermon on Evangelism. I had a 3 month lead time on this project, which included 6 weeks in East Asia where I didn't give one thought to the sermon, so I needed the lead time. I feel a huge sense of accomplishment for this project, which included a ton of prep work I didn't anticipate.

2. Closing the Books on Our Summer Projects.
From Nov 1 to Sept 1, my schedule is packed with summer project planning and prep. We're just 2 weeks away from wrapping up our finances and student accounts. I love our SP's, but I can't wait for the books to be closed on this season. Luckily I've had some awesome help throughout the summer to ensure the books will in fact get closed in a proper way.

3. Finding an apartment.
The hunt for a new place to live has been arduous, to say the least. It started in March with trying to find a new roommate. Now two weeks before I get kicked out of my apartment, I have a roommate... but still working on that place to live. We're still figuring things out, but there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I think. I'm growing in areas of patience and perseverance with this one.

4. Reading.
It seems a little weird to include this one, but I'm notorious for reading 7 books at one time and finishing none of them. I started and finished two books during my 6 weeks in East Asia, and have recently finished 2 more that I began before I left. Now, on to the other 3 I'm in the middle of...

For someone who loves to start new projects, but struggles to finish them, putting the cover on the box that contains these major tasks, and putting the box on a shelf in a closet and closing the door, feels really good. Here's to a new year, complete with many startings and finishings!