The rustle and whisper of cornfields, the drifting, lingering smell of the pine grove on the wind, the gentle British cadence of my Mansfield Park audiobook…ahh, the beauty and warmth of summer.

My soul is soaking and reveling in it, the green, blues, golds, whites, the flip and flutter, swaying and swishing. Each season has its own way of moving, its own dance. The busyness of June and early July is fading away on the hazy horizon of late July and approaching August.

A grad party for a beloved son (my 3rd homeschool graduate! 😭🥰) is all that is pressing in the near future…more ice lattes or sugar free vanilla iced matchas are in the horizon as I prep for autumn homeschool co op classes I’m privileged to facilitate. I was very nervous about all I had to prepare but I’ve made an effort this summer to carve out time and little dates to focus on it…the Lord is loving my heart into calm and realization that it’s not really about a perfect plan, but a humble, open heart.

The endless Kindle reading moments, curled under my daughter’s crocheted creation against the icy blast of the A/C, lots of walking, time for prayer, lists, and deeper reflection. Of course, ones sees the dark side too, sickness in friends and family, relational struggles, broken lights, lawnmowers, and love…the excessive flashing, sickeningly-fast media cesspool. The darkness is astonishing but the light of hope only flickers brighter in the face of my fears.

My deck garden and bamboo chimes are a monastery moment to me… a birthday gift to myself…a meditative morning practice I’m so glad I invested in at end of May. The end of July sees it bearing fruit. Flowers to sit amongst and low-weed maintenance is a boon to a weary, world-worn heart. I know some think very little news is an ostrich-way to live, but aren’t we called to think on good things? We can dig and research when we need to, but why the 24/7 doom poured into my eyes and ears, flowing down into my heart, turning into a leaden stone? A leaden stone that sinks between the deep, dark waves of despair. I’m a human being! I’m created to create and to be celebrating all that God has given to me! I will fight that sinking with admiring my almost-blooming cosmos, listening to tinkling tones on my chimes, making homemade brownies for my kids, and walking, walking the crunchy, gravel backroads to the music of the pine boughs, the words of countless writers and birdsong driving me on one step at a time.

What are you grateful for currently? ♥️🌿