This is my favorite time of year!
Warm summer days with hours of play outdoors
Filling the small pink pool for the girls to splash around in
Taking the camper and making memories with our family
Walks outside
Boating on the river
Seeing the excitement in the girls' eyes as they tube behind the boat
Swimming lessons with Kayla
Seeing her becoming more brave during those lessons
Amber waves of grain rustling in the wind
The smell of harvest (one of my favorites!)
Watching the combines bring in the fruits of the year long labors
Bike rides
Listening to the sound of water running in my water fountain
Watching our own little crops grow in the garden
Canning with my mom
Pickling beets like my grandma taught me
The sounds of popping lids signaling success in a day of canning
Fresh raspberries over ice cream
Milkshakes
Summer BBQs with family and friends
Lots of birthday celebrations in our family
Summer Bible Study
Play dates with friends
We started the summer by taking a trip to Maui to celebrate my parent's 40th wedding anniversary. Just the adults went! We left all the "grandkids" home! We all had the time of our life. What a huge blessing to spend concentrated time just as adults. Our kids also had a fabulous time as they spent concentrated time with Ben's parents. That was a first (for the both of them), and they made such special memories.
We also have the privilege of celebrating Ben's parent's 40th wedding anniversary. We will spend 10 days in Montana.
We told both of our parents they got to choose what they wanted to do to celebrate this special occasion. It's it interesting that neither one of them wanted a big "party?" They just want/wanted to spend time with their family. What a special heritage we have the privilege of being a part of.
With these big "highs", there has been some very interesting "lows" so far.
In the past month:
This dishwasher went out and I was without one for a week (something I realize I completely take for granted)
My garden started developing some leaf turning yellow disease and started dieing
Two days later, we had the craziest hail storm anyone has ever experienced and we happen to be the heart of the storm: The camper got severely damaged, some house window casings were broken, the hail damaged most of our rain gutters by putting huge holes in them, the garden pretty much got flattened (some had recovered, thankfully, until the storm last night), and the hail threw gravel 4-5 feet INTO the yard and flower beds. If you know where I live, and my house, you know what a mess this is. I had to pick (still picking...) gravel out by hand. One little piece at a time.
Ben's pickup got struck by lightening
Ben developed an infection in his lung and was completely down for almost 3 days during the busiest time of the year
We had another storm come through last night that made another mess, and flattened what was left of the garden. Needless to say, I think I have received my three signs that I am NOT supposed to be doing a garden this year. :)
My hubby is gone a lot because of work since it's the super busy time, so I am often completely worn out at the end of each day
So what is one to learn through all of this? That is the question I have been asking myself daily. It can be easy to look at your circumstances and try to gain truth from that. One must be careful in that though. Truth shouldn't come from our circumstances. They can be so up and down. Truth is The Lord, so He is where we should gain our "truth."
In comparison (I know, we aren't supposed to compare) to so many others around the world, and even in this state, I am BLESSED. I have been given SO MUCH! But Satan knows where I am weak, and what will best tempt me. I pride myself on having and acting on so many GOOD ideas, that I sometimes wonder if they are a GOD idea.
I am in an Experiencing God class at our church, and it has been a great/challenging study. It's about knowing the doing the will of God. I have been doing the homework, and spending time with Him, working on my relationships with Him, but honestly, I am sensing some serious silence. I can't even explain it, but I sense I'm on the verge of hearing something important from Him. He always speaks to us, it's just a matter of if we choose to hear what He is saying.
It's been an interesting summer to say the least. So now I wait. I trust God that He is the orchestrator of all, and ask Him to give me His perspective on my "circumstances" and for Him to reveal Himself and what He has to teach me (us) through this.
Have a great rest of summer!
