Seasons

     My son erupted out of bed this morning at 6:30, arms and legs flying every which way as he threw his clothes on.  I was not far behind, staggering out of my room to make a special french toast breakfast for the kids through bleary eyes and a protesting body.  You see today is the first day of school, quite simply one of the best days of the year.  The kids are sent off every day to enrich their minds and spend time with their peers with built in supervision.  There is actually a chance to get some work done around the house without my beloved children undoing everything I just worked on.  Then they come back tired from working hard, grateful to be home.  The school parking lot was filled with adults who were grinning from ear to ear.
     Don't get me wrong, summer is a great time here in Interior Alaska.  The days are long and the temperatures are comfortably warm.  The hours have been filled with camps and lessons and parties and vacations and play.  The kids have bounced between the house and the yard and the neighborhood, leaving chaos in their wake.  Now the house is quiet and still...eery even.  It is hard to believe that only 12 hours earlier my children were playing "Whack-a-mole" with a stick and a sheet of bubbly plastic, reveling in the carnage they inflicted.
       Other than the sun coming up a little earlier, there are few differences between yesterday and today.  However every parent knows that yesterday was summer and today is fall.  The new season brings a new daily schedule and even a new emphasis to parenting.  Summer parenting is about trying to channel the energy and creativity of your children into positive activities that do minimal damage to the kids or their surroundings.  Fall parenting is about supporting your children as they struggle through the growing pains of academics and social pressures.  There are new goals, new challenges, new relationships and new dreams.  I love new beginnings and am excited every single fall at the new possibilities that are ahead of us. 
     The crazy thing is this:  If you do not have a school-age child, you have no idea that this enormous transition has occurred.  From that perspective, today is just another day instead of an annual monumental moment.
     I think there is another seasonal change happening at the same time.  I believe Joel's Place is moving into a new season.  An external observer would not see anything noticeably different: our finances are still struggling mightily and we still have slow foot traffic through the doors.  But as I sit at my desk, things are shifting.  My calendar is filling up quickly with training sessions and visits with potential donors and meetings with community partners and opportunities to connect with new demographics.  There is a growing interest in supporting Joel's Place and seeing it thrive.  This new season will see our building hosting new groups during our off hours, introducing a new generation to skateboarding, sponsoring amazing shows and activities for young people, welcoming in youth who have nowhere else to go, developing community partners who give joyfully and pray diligently and equipping our staff to show the love of Jesus to everyone who walks through our doors.
     There is a new season here at Joel's Place.  Feel free to stop by if you want to share a glimpse.