May We Enjoy This Summer... And All The Seasons Of Our Lives

There’s a lot going around right now about taking it easy this summer.

Letting loose. Breaking the rules, redefining the norm, finding some peace and calm after the storm.

Don’t get me wrong, I plan to do the same; but it’s got me thinking about the year we’re coming out of.

What is it exactly that we need such a break from?

The hustle, the rushing, the moving—constantly?

The competitions, the expectations, the comparisons—everywhere?

The schedules, the activities, the plans—unending?

The mental load, materialistic items, the tangible things and the internal things?

These things sure do take a toll on us and our families.

But these things are also what make up most of our daily lives.

I’m curious, what does that say about how we are living?

We crave time outside in nature because so many of us simply don’t get enough.

We yearn for quality time with one another because a lot of us simply don’t get enough.

We need an escape from technology and desire interaction and connection with real people because most of us simply do not get enough.

Still, we are all doing the best we can balancing all that comes our way.

And we are grateful— so very thankful for this life.

But— I can’t help but feel that we’re doing something wrong if we’re that desperate for a change, even if it’s just for a short period of time.

So, let’s all pay attention to this feeling of needing something gentler, freer, more natural. And remember it.

And then notice how we feel when we achieve that gift this summer.

Is it when you share that extra large ice cream cone with your child and it’s dripping all over both of you way past everyone’s bedtime?

Is it when you can’t stop smiling as you hold someone else’s hand jumping through the playful, sweet smelling waves on a hot summer day?

Is it when you’re sitting on the porch at night sipping your favorite something with your favorite someone saying absolutely nothing because the beautiful sound of the night is all you both want to hear?

Whenever it happens— when you feel that joy, connection, presence you’re looking for— commit to taking a pause. Stay there. Make it last as long as you can.

Thank God for those moments and ask him to please show you more—and he will.

The more we stop to truly be present, the more we let go of controlling the past and the future, the more we choose to thank him... the more awakening he will provide in us.

We may not always be able to create the flow, the grounding, or the peace we need outside of us, but we can work on doing so within us—and that can change everything.

Let this hope carry you through the summer breezes and then into the crisp fall air that soon will follow.

Enjoy your summer, my friends, enjoy all that the sun has yet to bring,

but let’s also use this time to reflect on ways we can better enjoy—and really LIVE—all the seasons of our lives.

In a world that so often seems to never stop moving,

be a soul that knows how to behold mental “screen shots” of the momentary blessings we are gifted—and carry them in your heart forever.