You can’t sit around thinking. You have to sit around writing.

David Long

Dear Saturday and all my friends,

How are you? Just thought I’d check in and share some heart whispers…

“I’m not sure I can write. The well feels dry. I have nothing to say,” I whine.

“You just have to sit down and start. I feel the same way when starting a sermon sometimes. But once I start, the things I need to say start coming,” he encouraged.

My husband shared this with me recently and it’s one of those things I know, but don’t know. He has been longsuffering as he listens to my lamenting. The official homeschool books have been shut with a slightly dusty bang for a few weeks now, but our learning goes ever on in other ways. My little bit of a green thumb has been poking and prodding in the soil, seeds in and watered, the local lake has had a dip of toes or oar once or twice, and the hammock never lacks for company. Hay fields smell richly fragrant, that warm, freshly baked, right out of the oven smell breathed deeply in, drifting through our open Prius windows as we zip around, errands and farm part pickups with above said hubby. Sigh, ’tis a blessed country life. We’ve gotten piles of treasure from our local library, delicious gems for our hearts and minds, I’ve been enjoying the time to dip into my stacks, curled in the hammock or big, chocolate, fluffy new-to-us arm chair. I especially am loving Letters by a Modern Mystic by Frank C. Laubach, which is challenging my prayer and thought life.

My homeschool planning has begun in earnest, to have a more realistic look as I prayerfully peruse and pick, starting with our home library, books for next autumn. All privileges’ I love to do for the lovely people I’m parenting. I start with massive ideas and book lists and weed it down to a workable plan as the summer burns down to a simmer. I hope to have a rough sketch before I head on a lovely homeschool retreat with my sister next month. I’m finding mornings crucial to my heart aim for each day – to set the day and needs of all who I love at the foot of a Cross, a bath of love flowing over it all. A constant reworking and reordering of a woman’s heart and affections each morning…it’s so easy to feel weight. Weight of our world and my work, as a wife, mother, and follower of The Way. Jesus, The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

My writing has been frozen – not sure why the pause has been pushed, recently, although I’m starting to suspect. My health is so much better now after making changes a year and a half ago, my sleep is a bit better, and I’m getting down time in, with plenty of reading, nature, and inspiration. My suspicion is this: my Baggins self is snuggled down deep into its lazy, second breakfast self and is continuingly stuffing the Tookish voice whispering of tales and adventure to be had at the end of my quill, writing my heart out as I journey alongside all you other pilgrims. Journeying is hard work, but oh, the rewards! How do you find yourself currently? As the summer sun sunkisses our hearts and souls, I know I’m storing that warmth to bring out in February, and I’m trying to kick myself into a gratitude posture. One that shares all the abundance I’ve been given. Because that’s what art is to me, a gift to myself and to others, if I’m willing to put in the heart and ink work. How are your summer starts? In home, garden, heart, or creative digging deep? How is this deeply rich and satisfying season of growth, warmth, and light shining light on your life? I’d love to continue this conversation with YOU. ❤ Please share what book you’ve loved recently, or project, or ANYTHING below!