When I get a new calendar, I do the same thing every time. I go through each month and I enter in the days I serve.
2nd, 3rd, 4th, & if there is a 5th Thursday - I mark them off for BH (Blessed Hope dinners)
3rd & if there is a 5th Saturday - Mark off for Ark ministries
3rd Monday of each month I drop off lunches & hygiene kits to AWOL
Then Birthdays... starting with my own LOL but also... my birthday is January 1st so it makes sense why it's first!
I put the first things first!
And at the end of each month/first week of the month I evaluate what is in my pantry & freezer and plan out the meals for each month, some months the planning comes very easy and sometimes... not so much! I have favorite things I like to serve because my friends have certain things that are their favorites.
I like rituals. As a child who had a lot of uncertainty in her life, I think it carried over into my adult life. I like to know what to expect when I go some place, and often, if I go somewhere new, I like it to be with someone I know.
That being said, I will sometimes, just do something super spontaneous, like I went on a mission trip to Haiti and I had never met the group I went with until we hugged in the airport for the very first time! I even got my favorite nickname with them... Jelly.
I think it would be easy for me to settle in to a routine and do the same thing every day, I could mostly eat the same things every day. But the truth is, that is not where my soul thrives. My soul really thrives in dreaming new dreams, going on new adventures with the grounded-ness of faithfulness!
I love that people know they can count on me, like every Friday/Saturday this winter (except 3) I showed up with food for The Sharing table, and I'm still showing up but each week, it's a new and exciting adventure of what fun food I will pick up (and drop off) for friends my heart longs to meet.
Spontaneous Faithfulness that's the ritual I'd like my life to look like. Like the waves of the lakes. We can anticipate that when we drive to Lake Michigan, we can count on the water being there, but it's ever changing beauty is a sight our eyes can't wait to capture.
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