I was reposting sermons today, and I really realized that though a year and a half is a short time, I’ve been here a long time. That is, I’ve been here at Grace for a lot of Sundays. It’s kind of weird how the cadence of the work week culminating on Sunday is just a completely different feeling that what it was like when I was a teacher. Then, things had a rhythm and flow of certain seasons (i.e. marching season, Christmas season, contest season, etc.) There was always a build-up to each season, with a break at the end. Here the only long buildup is Easter Cantata. Everything else is kind of short bursts.
Not that I’m saying that’s bad, it’s just different. Time flies much quicker this way. I lose track of the weeks, and the months all seem to kind of melt together. I feel like I lose contact with friends and family so much quicker because the week just flies by without stopping for a breath. Although, now that I think about it, the major difference is the commute time. I used to drive 30 minutes to work every day, and then 30 minutes back home, and then on Wednesdays, 30 minutes the other direction for church, or if I needed groceries, 15 minutes for Fort Madison, 30 for Mount Pleasant or 45 for Burlington. I’m starting to realize that that was kind of like my slowdown time. I usually would call people on the road, so most of the time that I spent communicating was in the car (don’t worry, I had a hands free).
Now, the drive maybe takes me 3 minutes if I hit the lights wrong. It takes me far more time to dig my car out after a storm than it does for me to drive to church! It’s odd, especially considering I used to fill up our cars 3 times a week, and now we fill up each car once a month or so, but I really miss my drive time. I suppose looking back, except for the college years when I lived on campus, I’ve always had travel time. Even when I rode the bus, we were almost the first ones on, and almost the last ones off. I can’t begin to tell you how much reading you can get done with 45 minute bus rides all the time!
Anyway, if that sounded like whining, it really wasn’t, just thinking about something completely random, yet profoundly affecting of my life! How about you? Do you find yourself doing all of your thinking on the road, and would you miss it if it were gone?
Worship Geek 