This week here in North Texas, we are experiencing another calamity with devastating cold, record breaking temperatures. The predictions are they are going to be around for over a week. We are experiencing ‘controlled’ power blackouts now to maintain the grid. 

I opened my calendar app last night and was pleasantly surprised to see I only have commitments on three weekdays for the rest of the month of February (during working hours.) I don’t remember the last time that was true. 

Perhaps, this year is starting to come together. 

In Queue.

Last week, I was in line of cars for 95 minutes to get into the parking lot where the vaccination was being given. I’m not complaining. I was comfortable in my car, not standing. And the line was constantly moving. 

As always, when you are in the middle of one major crisis, there are a million of other crises. 

Waiting, you would think I’d be a pro at it by now. As of today, I’ve published 300 episodes of the Adventures of My COVID-19 Rabbit. The lockdown started 7 days before that. 

This time has given me a whole new perspective of waiting. Oh, I had years of the excitement of waiting for the first day of school. Waiting for some life event. Waiting for the birth of a new family member. 

Today, I read the story of when Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away. In the version I was reading, it said Hagar wandered aimlessly in the wilderness. I stopped reading and said ‘wandering aimlessly.’

That pretty much sums up how my life feels. This last week for sure, but maybe for several past years. 

It’s a little hard to celebrate a new year when there is absolutely nothing new about it, with the exception of one number. 

And a new resolution, goal, a new path won’t right what’s wrong.

It’s time to choose my one word for 2021. It is going to be a challenging year for me in many areas of my life. I have not been looking forward to choosing a word for next year. 

The One Word I have chosen for every year has provided an interesting focus for that year. Always what I needed, but usually the outcome was not what I was expecting. 

I was able to see the ‘Christmas Star’ tonight. And with my binoculars. I did see the two separate stars. Gazing on it, I thought  about the year in general for me and my needs for the coming months. 

In the last few weeks, as I’ve felt my depression lifting after several years, it has become clear to men I need the last nine months off from the day to day grind of my regular life. 

This weekend I discovered a crack in a wall in my house. Yes, that is blue sky you can see. 

From the inside, during the day, you can see the sky. 

Who knows if it’s beginning to look Christmas, I’m hardly leaving the house these days.

Yet, there is a sense of Christmas in the air. 

During November, I wrote a little over 10,000 words telling the story of Sage working through the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This week, I’m thankful for the small town I grew up in. Where you or your parents or grandparents, pretty much knew of everybody in town. You shopped in the same stores, knew where everyone went to church, read the same newspaper. We lived on the edge of town, so I know the difference of the in town kids and the country kids. 

I’m thankful growing up with a sense of place that came from my home town shaped my outlook.

Perhaps you grew up hearing family stories from the any of the wars our grandparents and parents time, and what their lives were like in times of repression and depression. 

My adventures to write my book have been sidetracked by life this week. But the delays have opened doors to solutions of several pitfalls in my story. The love interest will be mentioned and make an appearance in the first page of the story. He is going to go back to Austin for a while, but the reader will know of him, his relationship to the main character and the town. This will only support many elements that were already in the story. 

And I discovered the theme that will enable the community to embrace the plans for handling the pandemic. It has a strong Biblical approach that Sage will, after some prayer, fully embrace and the rest of world will think they are crazy. More about this in the future. 

I miss my hometown newspaper. It’s been out of business for about 15 years. It came on Thursdays. It not only was a place of keeping city government accountable, but you could keep up with births, deaths, Obituaries and my favorite the detail descriptions of the wedding party’s outfits and the theme decors. (Especially for the ones you weren’t invited too.)

What do you want to challenge yourself to accomplish in November? Maybe, your are not up to a 50,000 word/book challenge. Maybe you are committed to writing a chapter, an outline, character descriptions. Maybe you have an editing deadline. Maybe a marketing goal. Working on your website. Maybe creating an exercise program to create health and a better mindset. Maybe a month of prayer. Or maybe, you need to organize your work/desk area to be able to concentrate better. Let's use this month to challenge and encourage each other to complete whatever we need to move each of us forward.

I’m going to start my book.

In learning more about enneagrams, I’ve discovered the concept of the ‘common good.’

Working toward the common good is one of the main themes of my current work in progress. 

Working toward the common good is an innate part of my character. It spills out in all I do. 

The common good should be core focus of a community, but sadly, personalities and self-interests often win the day. 

This week, in a Bible Study, I studied Isaiah 25. Verses 2 speak of cities. 

 2 For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks,