Ahhhh Summer; My most favorite time of year. Remember those
great Country Time Lemonade commercials filled with images of joyful, relaxing
summer days; family gathered in rocking chairs on the porch, children
running and jumping off of a dock or
swinging on a tire swing? Those commercials captured what summer is to me. Joy,
relaxation, fun, a slower pace…
With each passing year my children’s lives become busier and
my homeschool planning time grows as their school lessons become
greater. Homeschooling is a full time job. Gone are the days of a clean-cut end to our school year and beginning of summer. They sort of blend together
now. Just this year my high schooler continued through just about all of the
summer catching up on a few subjects. These past few summers I have become irritated
and frustrated that life will not give me that dream summer I envision in those
commercials. This year I decided I had a choice to make. I could give in to the frustration that life won’t give me a break, and allow it to ruin my mood, or I could
snatch up as many moments of summer as I am able and enjoy those moments as they
come. God doesn't want me to be so busy with things that I miss out on special moments with my family, or quiet times with Him. He wants us to enjoy life not survive life! So while I didn’t have some long, stretched out period of time before me
with beautiful blank spaces on the calendar, I did steal quite a few wonderful moments.
Pieced together they have added up to quite a nice summer and I feel blessed
for having experienced peace and joy in each one of those stolen moments. In addition to lingering snuggle time after sleeping in, a picnic or two, and some fun family outings we enjoyed moments like these...
Prayer time on the porch in the mornings
A garden party with friends
Playing in the rain.
When the first 6 weeks of summer are rainy you just have to get out in it!
Prayer time on the porch in the mornings
A garden party with friends
Blueberry picking, a time...
...or two!
ahhhh the bounty!
Simply enjoying the flowers
Lesson plans from the porch
Because the weather (after all that rain!) was too gorgeous to stay inside!
A quick trip to the beach
There are just under 4 fleeting weeks until Labor Day. How
will you snatch up some moments before they are gone? I have many school plans to
do still but for now I am off to enjoy some time outside with my kiddos.
Ohmygoodness Jen, this is sooooo beautiful! I totally understand where you are coming from, this summer has been sooooo busy and the only end in sight is the end of summer!
ReplyDeleteMy time has gone to worthwhile endeavors and I am happy I was able to do those things but I wanted to do so much more! I haven't had a chance to bake bread all summer and it doesn't look like I will get to bake any until I head to Vermont in September. On the other hand, Matt and I got to go to Santa Fe with my Mom and step-Dad, I was able to go help a friend in El Paso not once but twice AND go visit an old friend in Santa Rosa NM. We went to Cancun with the family, I was able to take a refresher food preserving course and I started Hebrew lessons! Matt and I got to go see my favorite band in concert as part of our 25th anniversary celebration, I got to practice my wedding cake decorating skills and help a friend in the process and I also got to help my brother with our annual family birthday party. All in all my time was well spent, I just wanted to do more. I guess the lesson for me is to enjoy the blessings that come my way in whatever form they take and not pine for the road not taken because soon enough I will be able to take that road whereas I may never have these other moments again.
Thank you sooooo much for this beautiful meditation and thank you for being my friend.
I LOVE you! <3
Deann
Deann,
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry for the delay in my reply. I never received a notification about your comment. I am SO glad you enjoyed the post and were able to enjoy a wonderful summer even though the plans were different than you envisioned! Sounds like a busy, fantastic summer!!! I agree with what you said regarding the lesson in it all. We have to go with the flow seeing the blessings set before us. Thank you again for taking the time to read my post!
Love you too my friend.
God bless,
Jen