A Time for Calendars

This past December, my husband and I were in an office supply store to buy a wall calendar.  We like something big with large squares to write in appointments and events, and it hangs in the kitchen where we can see it daily.  While checking out, a man (wearing a realtor nametag) commented to my husband that he hadn’t seen anyone use a paper calendar in years!  The remark felt disrespectful and condescending to me.  Of course, we are aware of digital calendars and on-line scheduling.  We use technology options too but a calendar’s day-to-day visual reminder serves us well.  Frankly, thanks to his comment, I won’t be calling the guy in the store for my real estate needs, but I suppose he’s right that wall calendars belong to the parent generation, the brunt of a series of recent insurance commercials.

I will be honest:  I like calendars.  Back in my classroom days, I kept several calendars up.  The photos or art for each month aided conversation and content in my ESOL classroom.  They added cheer and color to institutional walls and I find them cheerful now inside of closets, on the back of a door, and in a workspace.  Some calendars remind me of a ministry with needs; others take me to a beautiful scene or share an artist’s work each month.  My all-time favorite FREE calendar was the gorgeous photography and gardening news in the Merrifield Garden Center annual calendar but sadly I am not in Fairfax anymore to pick one up.

Calendars measure time, something precious and finite in the human experience.  Belonging to the Author of Life, I thoughtfully consider time.  I want to enjoy it, I don’t want to waste it and I know I am held accountable for it.  I realize my earthly time will end one day.  Already, I have attended two funerals in the new year.  One life remembered was long, full and clearly dedicated to the Lord.  The other memorial service also honored someone with a faithful legacy of serving the Savior, but the years were much short of the “span of seventy, maybe eighty years” described in Psalm 90 v 10.

We have quickly flipped over the first calendar page to February, torn off January, or digitally have swished or scrolled forward.  We might still be in the mode of planning, goal setting, prioritizing or establishing better habits for the new year.  That’s where I am too but I hope you are also considering how you will make your relationship to God a priority this year.  How will you spend time with our very Author of Life, learn of Him in the Scriptures, and be encouraged by others who share faith in Jesus?  David the Psalmist wrote that he “set the Lord always before” him (Psalm 16 v 8).  The entirety of Psalm 16 describes the safety, value, goodness, joy, and LIFE in choosing Him as our priority.  Blessings as you pursue Him fully in this unfolding new year.

Author: Brenda Proulx

Wife, mother and grandmother, educator and someone who thinks about the things I observe. I am the daughter of a writer; my dad's career was in the field of journalism. More significantly, I am God's child, a person believing in Jesus Christ and in His timeless Word. Blogging is new to me but I feel like I've always had a pen in my hand. I jot notes in my planner, mark papers, underline verses, write many letters, and occasionally draft articles for work or church. When I am not holding a pen, I am probably cuddling a mug of coffee. View all posts by Brenda Proulx