Six Septembers

Fall is my favorite.  I love the sights, smells, tastes, and traditions.  I especially love sunny fall days with a slight breeze and a crisp chill.  I get nostalgic on days like that.

September recently ended, and I found myself reflecting a lot as fall began.  Particularly, I reflected on September 2007.  Here’s what happened in my life at that time:

I started my final year of seminary, but I dropped down to part-time student and raised my hours working at church.

I traveled with Sammy, Brian & Susan, and Tim & Kathy to Calvary Baptist in Belize City.  That spring our church had taken a bunch of money and a bunch of people to Belize City to help construct their new church building.  In September we went to the Dedication of the finished product.

I, along with my husband, entered into debt for the first time in our marriage, and we went big.  We bought a house with exactly the floor plan we wanted.  We moved back to our hometown.  We moved a mile from church/work.

I got pregnant, a little earlier than planned.

I got a puppy, Vanilla, a yellow (white) lab.  I’ve had dogs since I was 6-years-old.  ‘Nilla was hands-down the smartest dog I’ve ever had.  Every morning she gave me a “hug and kiss,” which included putting her paws on my shoulders and licking my cheek. 

This September I found myself remembering back to that September and frankly wondering what in the world I was thinking.

This September I found myself reflecting on the differences between September 2007 and September 2013:

The seminary days are over, and I miss the learning.  This September I entered a new phase of my journey with God as I moved into a new role, Guide Pastor.  If you’re familiar with my church’s mission statement, then you might understand I’m kind of in charge of the second half of our mission statement:  to guide people to become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.  It’s a new role, not just for me.  It is a steep learning curve for me and for our church.

The world traveling has largely come to an end with little ones, but plans are in the works for a 10-year anniversary trip when the Frames might once again travel the world together—our very favorite thing.

We’re still in that house.  We’ve made some improvements; more need to be made.  We’ll probably be in that house for a while seeing as how we bought it just before the market really crashed, and we owe lots more than it’s worth.  It’s a great house.  If it only had some storage…

We now have two kids, and the result of that pregnancy six Septembers ago started kindergarten this fall and is READING!  If you know his parents, then you know this is the beginning of the rest of his life; his library is already about 100 books strong.

Vanilla was hit by a car and killed before she turned one.  It broke my heart.  We had her cremated with plans to spread her ashes in my step-dad’s pond—‘Nilla’s favorite place.  I couldn’t do it.  She sits in an urn on a bookcase by my bed.  But, this September, we signed up to be dog owners again.  Rex has stolen our hearts, at times our sleep, the skin on our hands, toys left in the floor, and our old shoes.

I still don’t know what we were thinking six years ago.  It’s been quite a journey.  Here’s to the next six...