I want to sit back and remember summer as it has played out so far. It has been glorious in so many ways. As a homeschool mom I think I anticipate the start of summer break just as much, if not more, than my kids. It's not that I dislike homeschooling but I am just so ready to take that teacher hat off because it's a balance to wear the hat of both mom and teacher and to be honest by the end of the school year I don't know that I like wearing both. It requires a lot for me to be intentional and organized because that is not my natural bent so to get a chance to be carefree and plan-free for a bit is just lovely.
I remember taking this picture on the last day of school. We picked Isaac up from his class at Keewaydin and went straight to the pool and though I didn't jump in with them I was so delighted to sit there with my kindle and half-read/half watch them play and splash....SUMMER was here at last!!!
And it has really been a refreshing one so far. Prior to school officially being over Shane and I got away for our anniversary. I am so grateful for the patterns Shane had the foresight to set in place at the beginning of our marriage for they have only become more precious with each new year. This year we had the privilege of spending 5 days in Longboat Key at a beach house that is in Shane's half-sister Rhonda's family. For 2 years she has been generous to give us the key and let us stay there. A perfect quiet 55+ community that has a beach on one side and a bay on the other...it offers us the perfect blend of quiet and respite and local fun restaurants and places to explore. We rested well there and just simply enjoyed one another...a gift after 17 years of marriage!!
Back at home, June was full of swimming and hanging with neighbors and local friends. Last summer with the adventures of sabbatical we did miss out on a lot of local fun so that has been really fun to be home and take advantage of that. VBC at our church kept us busy and tired in a fun way for a whole week. Our front and back door revolve with neighbor kids...old and new ones just moved in. Neighbors...we have really been wanting to grow in how we form relationships with our neighbors and how to be intentional and how to move from being simply relational to truly caring for them so that the gospel will have a bridge to walk across that doesn't seem fake or project-like. This is is such a work in progress for us but it definitely helps that our kids spend time with many of the kids on our street and that has provided windows of opportunity for us as adults. We feel like we have so much growing to do in this area.
Marathon training...it is always in the mix these days. Some days it feels right and helpful and others we wake up wondering, "Why did we decide to do this?" And really it was me that pushed us to the marathon and I do wonder some days if I made the right decision to go from being a non-runner to training for a marathon. Surely we are not the only ones to do so...and I know that is true. In those moments I just come back to the one-day-at-a-time approach. Trust the plan. Know it will give you the steps you need to get to your goal. If I have that mindset I really don't get worried. I have learned so much already and I know that that is the ultimate goal - to be changed, to not be the same, to do something hard that I might be shaped by it and grow because of it.
And then I think this. At the start of April I was running one minute at a time and I could not even fathom running one whole mile without stopping. On July 3 I did this:
I ran 10 miles only stopping a few times for a water break. It was HARD but I did it! I had great doubt when I first began this training and now I see that if that growth can happen in 3 months than in another 3 months I may just cross that finish line. I'm learning a whole lot about discipline and being faithful and having accountability and a team to encourage you. A few times I've had a running partner that has stuck with me the whole time and WOW how encouraging that is! People with experience that will slow down a bit to my pace and stay with me and encourage me as I run and push me to a faster pace. This is life! Sin entered the world and life became a challenge and a struggle but there is hope and God's plans were not derailed. He had already planned a way to make things right again and his methods flow from who He is. We were not meant to live life alone!!
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