The "New"

I'm feeling a bit odd at the moment. I'm feeling a bit on edge...a bit impatient...a bit...well, fidgetty. After making a decision to close one door, I know that another will open.....but what will it be?

You see, I LOVE new adventures. Since the age of 16 my life has been pretty unpredictable and constantly changing. A'Levels, a new school, new relationships, Uni, leaving home, different creative projects, teacher training, a new home town, a new job, a new and unexpected baby, a new husband, a new house, another new baby, another new house, pet rabbits, another new baby, two rabbit funerals, a new kitten, her new kittens, a new church, another new rabbit, a new set of friends, a new business, a TV appearance, another lost rabbit, more kittens, a new cat, new hobbies, new friends, new nurseries and schools......bit mad really, but I thrive on change. I love new stuff. I enjoy new possessions and new places to visit. I find making new friends fun and easy. New is good. New is exciting. New is satisfying. New makes me happy.

So.....here we are...me and Dave, three kids, busy home, car journeys, church activites, vet bills, gas bills, water bills, electricity bills, parents evenings, gardening, cleaning, trips to the rubbish tip, shopping for food, family occasions, meetings, car servicing, car taxing...bla bla bla.

"Me and Dave" is good. We try to spend special time together, including date nights and weekends away. We try to keep things new and exciting in all sorts of ways....hee hee hee. I can tell him (and he is helpful) when I'm feeling "the need for new"!!!

With our kids, I try to keep things pretty fast-moving and fun, as well as times of calm and peace. Random trips to the seaside, silly dinners, theme nights and special time together.

But as for the rest, I just have to get on with the mundane bits of life. I REALLY do not enjoy them. In fact, I avoid them, running for the hills, screaming, "Leave me alone!!" Mundane is boring. Mundane is mind-numbing. Mundane makes me want to shout, hit and scream. Mundane drives me mad. It's so...so... mundane!!

My poor, darling husband has to deal with my constantly itchy feet. "Let's get chickens!! Let's move far away!! Let's go out!! We should decorate that room!! We should buy a B&B!! What about setting up our own business?!" There have been a few times that Dave's come home to find various jobs around the house and garden that I've started - steaming off wall paper, painting furniture, moving shelves around, digging up various plants. He's very patient with me. He often finishes off the jobs that I start, and get bored of. He is kind and loving, and he gently reminds me of reality every now and then.

And you see, that's another problem with loving "new". I get bored very easily and very quickly. I have felt, for a long time, that this is a failure on my part and that, somehow, I would need to correct this fault in my character. Until a conversation with a lovely lady from our previous church, I had felt that that problem was my not finishing things. This wonderful lady explained to me that my starting things was what was important, and that God had given me this passion, boldness and ability in starting new adventures, for His purposes.

So, I have begun to really enjoy starting things. I have come to terms with the fact that I love "new", and that my passion, inspiration and boldness enable others to continue with great things that I start.

So, as one door closes, I am praying for another to continue what I started. I am praying for the humility to pass my adventure onto another, who will take it to greater heights. I am praying, also, for my new adventure...what will it be? I am praying for the patience to wait until my new adventure begins. But, most of all, I am praying that I will find the "new" in the mundane, in the everyday, and that I will enjoy the adventures that already sit at my feet.