beauty on a Friday: the first day of summer edition

for the first day of summer we celebrated

the lake was calling

the weather was beautiful

the water only a little bit chilly

the crowds very small

and there were friends near so he was off doing boy things all day long

which freed me up to do this all day long

of course we had to hit up Sister’s Bakery on the way

it was a beautiful start to what I’m sure will be a beautiful summer

 

I’m counting the grateful gifts: grateful for summer vacation, so much sweeter after the kids have been at school. It’s a different kind of summer for us, when we homeschooled our school year and summer just kind of ran together like melted crayons. Now there is a distinction, and the days are so much more wonderful than in previous summers. I’m grateful for that.

And I’m grateful to be living where we are. We don’t have pristine beaches but I think we make up for it in mountain lakes and the fresh air that only comes by living at 3500 feet. And then there’s the mountains views, can’t beat those.

These gifts are beautiful. There’s nothing more to it.

May you find beauty in this summer weekend, full of resting and playing and pausing to enjoy the gracious gifts of a good God.

Happy Weekend!

choosing delight: perspective

The pile of dirty dishes mocks me. It teeters high over the sink and laughs. From across the kitchen a blob of jelly seems to multiply on the table, daring anyone to attempt to scrape it off. The phone is ringing. And someone has unwittingly let the dog out, again.

And you are to rejoice before the Lord

your God in everything you put your hand to.

Deuteronomy 12:18

Sometimes that seems like an impossible task, especially when the dishwasher is broken. Mine has been broken for awhile now. And there are moments when I feel like I will be burried alive by a mountain of dirty dishes.

But there is always a life preserver. Always.

When I'm standing in front of the dish mountain I try not to think of how tedious it is, how boring, how much I hate not having my dishwasher. I force my brain to go another direction. You've been there too. In the middle of the undone and the mess that is life you look for a life preserver.

I am here to tell you that hope has come, and her name is perspective. How we see things, how we process them all rides on her. And if we use her correctly she will pave the way for freedom. Perspective is what allows me to "consider it pure joy" or wallow in self pity over the imperfect, like broken dishwashers.

Delighting is not always easy.

As I wash my dishes I remember how perspective can be my best friend or my worst enemy. I don't have to wash dishes, I get to wash dishes. I get to stand at the kitchen window watch summer unfold like the new butterfly unfurled from her cocoon. I get to watch the kids dance in the sprinklers. I get to slow down and pause, even for just a few minutes. Focusing on the I get to's instead of the I have to's changes things. As the sink fills up with hot soapy water I realize that it's much easier to delight when my perspective is right.

Often when I am frustrated and the day has gone sideways I have to catch myself and do a little self inventory. Sometimes I realize that my day has gone sour not because of lousy situations but because of my lousy response to the lousy situations. When my viewpoint is directed upward the day becomes sweeter. And it's then that delight is easier because I'm open to recieve all of God's good gifts, even when they are disguised as dirty dishes.

 

beauty on a Friday

we are officially one week into summer vacation and I’ve got to say that summer sure is beautiful.

so far one of my most favorite things has been watching our peonies bloom, big huge dinner plate sized blooms that are amazing. I’ve been snipping blooms and just looking at them while I drink my morning coffee.

my other most favorite is watching the kids zoom by while I sip iced coffee on the porch.

and then there’s laundry on the line that smells amazing.

and my favorite place to relax in the mornings.

and we’ve had lots of neighborhood friends over, one always has her shoes kicked off. those sweet boots are pretty cute to see laying around.

the long afternoons of summer call for relaxing and resting, and finding beauty right in your own backyard.

what are you finding beautiful these days?

a runner

I am always running.

Not literally. But figuratively I am always on the move.

Running is one of my outlets. Just the thought of lacing up my shoes gets me excited. I relish nothing more than discovering a new route, a new trail, a new path.

But even when the run is over and the shoes are back in the closet, I am still going.

I run after things and I run to things.

And as a mom I never take off those shoes. I am running hard after my kids. Running in prayer, running as an example, running alongside them in their own race. I run to meet them when they fall. I run to chase them at play. And when they aren't home at the proper time, you can bet I'm running through the neighborhood in pursuit.

But of all the running I do as a mom the most important race I run is the one to the feet of Jesus. Because I cannot do this without his help, I am constantly running to throne room to find grace and wisdom and plead with God on their behalf.

Some people run to lots of odd places for help, but I run to the presence of a Jesus.

And I pray that as my kids see me always running they'll be encouraged to lace up and and become runners themselves. Running hard after Jesus because they're following in their Moms footsteps.

 

Choosing Delight: he chooses it too

I shook with anger while I reprimanded my kids for their lack of obedience. Every button in me was pushed and it took every ounce of self control I had to hold it together. And as the evening wore on it was clear that every ounce was just not enough. It definitely was not my proudest moment. I wanted to stomp and scream and rage with all the glory of a two year old in full tantrum mode, writhing on the the floor over all the injustice in life. Of course my body didn't do that, but my heart did, and isn't that bad enough?

Life can be messy, and often I am the one who makes it the biggest mess of all.

But even at my ugliest I can still hear God's truth.

 

He brought me forth also into a large place; He was delivering me because He was pleased

with me and delighted in me. (Psalm 18:19 AMP, emphasis added)

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, emphasis added)

 

That's right, he still delights in me. His love calms me and his delight provides a rescue. Oh, how I needed the rescue that night. In the midst of my ugly and unlovely he delights in me.

Sometimes we just need to hear the simple truth that Jesus loves us, no matter what. That evening I let his delight come through.

I have been learning how to delight in the Lord, no matter the circumstance. But it had never occurred to me that he delights in me, even in my ugliest of moments. At my worst he still chooses to delight in me.

What wonderful freedom we can walk in; that God chooses to love us even when we are not so lovable. We can often fail, and gloriously when we do. But he still delights in us, his messed up kids who fall and try again and learn to lean heavy on his grace.

He chooses to delight in us not because we have achieved perfection but because he loves us. His love motivates him to move, to change his position in response to his repentant people. In the original language the word delight has to do with bending down or lowering oneself. So in delighting in us God lowers his position; he moves in order to rescue me.

That is humbling.

I cannot allow my failures to discourage me, because I know that I can rest secure in God's rescuing, delighting love. The Psalm goes on to say that he is my shield, my refuge. He arms me with strength and gives me victory.

Victory over my failures.

Refuge when I need safety.

Strength when I am weak.

Why does he do this? Because not only does he love me, he delights in me. The good, the bad, and the ugly do not deter him from loving me. Or you.

rainbow summer

this summer is looking like it’s going to be pretty colorful

our summer list is ready to go

we’ve got our plans for rainbow toes, homemade ice cream, trips to the river, bike rides and more. I even took a stab at some chalkboard art to commemorate the start of summer break.

it’s gonna be a good few months…now if we could just get our weather to cooperate with our summer plans.

well, at least one of us is enjoying the weather.

the summer of yes

It has begun. We are full on in summer vacation.

Honestly I had a hard time holding back the tears when I dropped them off at school this morning. I am so grateful for how God met us this school year, how he paved the way for us to enter public school, how seamless it was. I am grateful for the time I had with my baby while the others were at school. I am grateful for all the things we all learned about ourselves this school year. I'm grateful for new friends made, new goals achieved, and new realizations made.

And I'm proud. Very proud of how they transitioned, how they handled their nerves, how they grew. Academically they did good. But even more important, as individuals they did amazing.

It has been good. But now that we are beginning summer I have plans. The Nester reminded me that I have 12 summers left to have my kids at home during the summer. That's 12 summers of time with my kids before they fly the coop. But that's only nine of all us together. Nine is not really a big number. I want to make the most of it.

 

So don't tell the kids but I'm secretly planning on the summer of yes. Yes to them. Yes to their ideas. Yes to their plans.

Within reason, of course. We don't want to go too crazy here.

But I do want to treasure these days, with the full knowledge that they will slip away faster than my coffee cools off in the morning.

To celebrate the summer of yes we partied with some fro-yo tonight. The kids stayed up late. We took an evening bike ride and now this mom is content.

Tomorrow we make our summer list. Tomorrow we sleep in. We are set for having some fun. How about you, what are your summer plans?

 

This is Why

This is why we do it. For games of guess who and piles of shoes. This is why youth ministry is our thing. Because a house full of teenagers and a mountain of pizza is a pretty nice way to spend an evening.

There are lots of reasons that we do this crazy thing called youth ministry. Primarily it's because God called us, but also it sure is fun. Yes, it's challenging sometimes and we've had our share of heart aches with youth. But even in the pain, there is joy. There is fun. And we couldn't imagine doing anything else.

And that's the point. If there is a passion for the work at hand, that's a pretty good indication it's the right thing for you to do.

Because when the youth night is over, summer camp is done, and everyone has gone home we can honestly say we truly enjoyed it. Even when it's hard we wouldn't do any thing else with our lives. We love these kids, period, end of story. Often God asks us to do things that are hard, but when there is a calling we can do it with joy.

Everyone is made for something, something uniquely suited just for them. And when you are doing that something you were made to do there is joy. The challenge in life is to find that one thing that makes you feel alive and then find a way to do it; as a career, as a volunteer, however you can.

Life is too short to spend it on something you have no passion for. Find your passion and then do it. That makes life an adventure, that makes life fun. And I think it gives God great pleasure to see his kids shine doing what he made them to do.

What is your dream? What is that one thing you would do if you could do anything? Find that thing and pursue it, even if you start small. The thing is to start.