sweet summertime

 

It’s summertime and the living is….

I’m sure you can easily finish that thought with the typical ending to the phrase.  But when I really dig into that thought, I feel like there are a million other negative words that can easily fill in the blank when you’re a parent.

Complicated.

Hard.

Guilt-ridden.

Another time to feel like I’m not hitting the mark.

When the devil is preying to steal my joy.

Stressful and anxiety-filled.

Although I know God doesn’t want us to live in the negative, I do think He wants us to face hard truths and dig into the honest beliefs in our hearts over something.  For me, this season comes with such joy, delight, and expectancy.  As a working teacher Momma, summer seems like the exuberant light at the end of the tunnel.  The ice water after a long run.  The sabbath of the year.  But at the same time, it comes with all these expectations and “am I doing it rights” or “am I doing enoughs” at the same time.  Because…well…that’s the world we’re living in, folks.  Constant comparison in our eyes, scroll after scroll, square after square, post after post.  And even the most humble, raw post of one person can be breeding ground for our sinful nature to twist and turn something until one’s joy has turned into our personal misery.

And let me just declare this now.  I AM NOT HERE FOR THIS THIS SUMMER.  I am here to declare all the humble, raw, joy and stripped down to the core, back to the heart of what this season is meant to be TRUTH.  Who is with me?

The slower mornings.

The extra margin for family memories.

The sunshine.

The care-free times to splash in water.

The late nights running barefoot catching fireflies.

The iced coffee and fresh foods.

The grace to start refined, slower, and more intentional family rhythms.

In my time with Jesus this morning, He showed me to Galatians 5:22-23.  The Fruit of the Spirits.  You may know them well.  You may be unfamiliar.  But let me share them in a nutshell: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  What was an ah-ha to me with this familiar passage was how we can use these not as an ending mark but as a gauge.  Where are we on a continuum? Not have we arrived.  Because, ladies and gents, we will never arrive.  Is that a bold statement? And one I’ve even heard some Christians debate? Yep.  But in my heart, as a Believer and Jesus follower at this point in my life, my humble perspective on what the Word of God states is that we are on a journey with Jesus by our side.  And with His spirit in us and at the same time, with a Holy, Divine guide amidst us.  Three in one.  The power in all forms in our life.  And when we decide that we can arrive and there’s a mark that we either hit or we are awful beings, ruining our kids and doomed for destruction on our path, I believe that that takes all the MIGHT out of the Mighty One and says, “I’ve got this and this is all about my power.”

I want to challenge you…no matter what summer looks like for you.  The working at home parent, the working outside the home parent, the working from home parent, the family in the midst of crisis, the family living among impending changes, the family in the valley, the family on the mountaintop…remind yourself daily, moment by moment, that you are on a journey.  Your kids need you to show up with the best version of you, through His power, that you can be NOW.  And then set your heart and soul determined to keep being better and knowing better through HIM.

At the end of the day, our kids will remember our striving.  Will they remember you striving in your own power and putting your faith in yourself? Or striving in His power and putting your faith and hope in your Savior?