I was recently reminded how frantic summers in the Midwest can feel.  We wait over 6 months, or more, for warmer weather, and then, when it finally comes, we freak out with glee… and try to cram as much outdoor fun as we can into 3 months or so.

It is a great time, but if you are not careful, you can fill up your summer calendar in about 2 seconds flat (us, guilty) and miss out on the beauty that quiet, slow moments can bring.  I had forgotten how much I needed these kind of moments.  I had been falling apart and wearing myself into a frenzy trying to balance everything- and you know what?  Instead of hurrying and scurrying more, I needed to slow down more (thanks Ann Voskamp for this reminder via your book).

“Being in a hurry. Getting to the next thing without fully entering the
thing in front of me. I cannot think of a single advantage I’ve ever
gained from being in a hurry. But a thousand broken and missed things,
tens of thousands, lie in the wake of all the rushing.… Through all
that haste I thought I was making up time. It turns out I was throwing
it away.”-Ann Voskamp, 1000 Gifts

As I collapsed into bed for a nap this past Sunday, after four whirlwind days, I felt God impress this upon me, “You don’t have to do so much.”  Now, Hubby has been trying to tell me this for years!  But, for some reason, this time it started to really sink it…”I don’t have to do so much.”  Ah, breathing room.

Soon after this reminder, I read this on my Dayspring Calendar:

“As you walk through the day, instead of feeling like you can’t do it all, just remember- you don’t have to .”  –Angie Smith, Bring the Rain

Oh Angie, thank you.. what life-giving words, freeing, room-to-breathe type words.

I sat the other day, out on the deck, in the sunshine (didn’t even bring a book out).  Just sat, sipped some juice and breathed deep; taking in the beautiful surroundings.  I listened to the wind, I noticed the clouds (wow, they are amazing), my soul could hear, as I quieted I realized all that God, Creator, speaks- vividly and loudly speaks… the symphony of His handiwork, the edge of His lavish love letter, the reminder of His surrounding power, the intricacies of His artwork- masterpiece.

I need to take some time and do this very thing more, or before I know it, this season will quickly pass; gone.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.” Psalm 103:1

We have been running around a lot… struggling to get the kids in bed before 10 o’clock, piles of laundry (wait, we usually always have those), and coming up with lots of “dishes to pass” (and remembering to bring them) to gatherings.  Our house gets quite messy in the summer months as we “drop and plop” once we get home.  But, all this aside, it is a wonderful season that I love- gardening, ice tea, sunshine and blue skies, BBQ’s, kids playing outside, flowers and my Hubby’s meticulous mowing lines (chalk it up to nine summers mowing at a golf course).

Today, we celebrated with two high school graduates at their Open Houses and Strong One turned 3 months old!

I have also been struggling to find/make the time for my Precept Bible Study.  The time is most likely going to come in the mornings, so I have tried to start setting my alarm again (setting it is not the problem, it is getting up when it goes off).

Today, I read this:

“Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.
 Say to those with anxious heart,
 Take courage, fear not.
 Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
 The recompense of God will come,
 But He will save you.”
 Isaiah 35:3-4

What good and hard words.  Encourage the exhausted.  Strengthen the feeble.  Take courage.  Fear not- you, with anxious heart.  He will come.  And the truth is, whether we like it or not, or understand it or not, He will come with vengeance (because He is both Loving and Just, Forgiving and Holy).  He will save those who are His.  Oh, how I want us all to be His- as does He (see 2 Peter 3:9).

Deep Breaths:

1.  Are you feeling exhausted?  Feeble?  Be encouraged and strengthen by His Word and His Way today.  Take a few moments and get outside and be still.  Look and see what He has made, for you, this day.

2.  Are you afraid?  Are you fearful of something… of the “what ifs”?  Stop and bathe yourself in the hope and truth of His Word.  You are not alone in your fear.  He. Is. With. You.

3. Leave some margin in your summer- breathing room.  You don’t have to do it all!  This is so hard, at least for me, but, lay your calendar before the  Lord and ask Him to guide you in what He has in store.  Dare to trust.