The Summer of Repeat

So remember the story of Pete?

Pete and his buddy Repeat decided to have a day out on the lake.

They packed some lunches, got some bait and went fishing in a boat.

Repeat was Pete's annoying friend.

No one chose to spend time with Repeat.

Sure, sometimes Repeat could be fun. Sometimes people loved the experiences Repeat brought with him.

But most of the time, Repeat was boring.

While they were out fishing, Repeat got jealous of Pete's consistent popularity.

He wanted to have some time in the limelight.

So, when Pete was digging out their PBJ sandwiches, Repeat gave him a little shove.

Pete fell out.

Who was left?

Repeat.

Annoying, obnoxious, boring Repeat.

Enter Summer 2010.

In case you're new around here or you've forgotten, Matt and I seem to have a pattern to our lives. Fun, exciting things seem to happen in even-numbered years and somewhat monotonous, struggling things happen in odd-numbered years. If you missed the post on that, see here "2008: An Even Year".

2008 and 2009 continued that trend pretty well.

I didn't write a recap post on 2009, but if I had, it would've been titled "Good Riddance 2009." There were some bright spots, but for the most part, we were glad to see it go.

So here we are in Summer 2010. More than halfway through the year. The verdict? Thus far, a big thumbs down with a spitting sound to go with it. Once again, some good things have happened this year, but good gravy we're tired.

From dealing with the ticks (it's been one official week since we've seen one in the car or house and we found a dead one on Abi), to dealing with some projects around the house (maybe some details and pics in the future?), we're seeing a lot of Mr. Repeat around here.

It's not that we can complain. We're just ready to move on. To actually finish something and move on to something else. We're ready for a new start. For something amazing that rocks 2010 in the way one might expect when one's even-numbered years bring excitement.

School supplies are out in stores now. Have you noticed? Maybe that's spurred some of my thoughts on this. In case you don't remember how I feel about school supplies, see here "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year". The idea of growth, change and excitement is oh so alluring to me right now.

Wow. Random thought here, but looking back to find those posts, I realize how different this blog used to be. How different I used to be.

That's part of this whole thing. The Lord is growing us. He's changing us. We can see it, feel it, and are excited about it. And for that reason, we're OK with hanging out with Repeat for a little while longer. I guess we need time with Repeat in order to really get all our lessons down.

But we're looking forward to the day when all the work becomes reward. When we see some of the fruit of all the effort and re-effort.

Will it come this year?

2010, you have five months to earn your evenness. Get after it.