How are you?!

No really.

Summer has a tendency to bring out the extremes – hungry, tired, hot, impatient…

If I’m not careful, I can be swept from one emotion to another and live the day in a constant state of damage control. The schedule has helped so much. It has been a loose guideline of what we are doing (which helps me as much as the kids). AND – most importantly – I think we have finally unwound the mess I made of screen time while the world shut down. We are now an evening family time TV show family, instead of it just being on in the background as some sort of boredom default. (Major win for this summer!)

A friend recently said to stop chasing shiny things and just focus on what He is asking you to do. She was speaking to a group of us, gathered for writing advice, and those words have challenged me in a beautiful way. What amazing discernment advice!

I am easily swayed to say “yes” to invitations. Whispering to Jesus, “Lord, is this what you want me to do or is this something shiny that is distracting me?”, has become my new prayer.

I can feel the weight of my ego fall of my shoulders when I recall how much I love to be invited to things – anything – and then turn the decision over to Him.

It’s a wonderful encouragement to be invited, but that doesn’t mean He wants me to say “yes” to everything. (Even as I write that sentence, I have to convince myself of the truth behind it.)

For now, I am called to sit with Mary, at the feet of my family and be with them while they are here. Having older children and the perspective it brings me is a gift. These summer are precious and few.

I will wave the net over my head with hopes that the sunsets, the nerf gun fights in freshly cut grass, the sticky counters from making Kelly’s chocolate chip banana bread, the long evenings at the neighborhood pool, and the morning walks under the crepe myrtles get caught in the corners of my memories.