Category: Summer

Weeks Six Through Eight of Summer!

Carolyn

I would characterize the last three weeks of summer by Harry Potter, friends, and birthdays.

My son has me reading Harry Potter. I am in the middle of the fourth book. I have always resisted this series because of what I thought would be dark themes, but in reality, I am liking it and can see why children enjoy the plot. It keeps reminding me of bigger themes, of true realities, that there really is a battle with a kingdom of darkness, that there is a Kingdom to come, that the greatest stories we can imagine would only be a hint of such a great story, that ideas and thoughts like those found in this fiction show how we are made in God’s image with the ability to think and create, but also that we are all naturally aware of the battle of good and evil at some level.

This morning I was thinking about a broken relationship where God has brought healing. The healing came not in perfect form, but it still came, and there is such a freedom when something is released, even if the best human way of doing it can’t be perfect. There has been forgiveness given and forgiveness received, and the rest can be left in God’s hands, and we can trust Him. And I love it that there can be peace, perhaps imperfect in this life, but still a peace that was worth seeking over leaving things undone and broken. I suspect there are many people who are content to live with brokenness, and I realize sometimes circumstances just require that extreme separation, but I would imagine in many cases, some form of reconciliation could be found, even while boundaries may need to be built.

Anyway, immediately while I was thinking of this, the picture in Harry Potter of Dobby and the dirty sock came to mind. He had brokenness with his “master” and the only way he could be free would be through being given clothes. Ideally, wouldn’t receiving beautiful clothes and being sent away from his master in a loving way be wonderful? And yet, Dobby was released by being given a dirty sock by accident. Yet his freedom still came. Whether it’s beautiful clothes or a dirty sock, the end result was the same, and the fact that in his case, it was a dirty sock showed how necessary the separation and freedom actually was!

So it struck me how books can paint pictures that portray a larger idea so beautifully, even if imperfectly. And I’ve enjoyed connecting with my kids and their friends through this series, too!

The rest of these weeks of summer have been spent in town, taking my son to football camp and workouts, being with friends (we know two families who now live overseas, but who have been in town), and then this last week, celebrating birthdays!!

My daughter’s birthday is always special as we remember what God did for her through her birth. I never tire of remembering it, because God has done great things for us, and I want to praise Him! My birthday follows hers by four days, so we celebrate a lot during this week of summer!

I did not plan to come up with a theme on my birthday for this next year, but God gave me something quite clear: Walk in the Light.

I was reading in my daily reading from Micah chapter 4-7, and I had underlined and thought about first the word “walk” in Micah 4:2 and 5:  “He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” and “we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.”

Then second, these words from Micah 7:8-9 about light: “Though I sit in darkness, the LORD will be my light…. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness.”

I love the thought of God teaching me his ways that I may walk in his paths and that He is Light and He will bring me out into light.

Then I opened some gifts that some friends had given me the night before at Bible study, and my friend wrote in her card about me shining light out of darkness.

Later at work, I was looking up some verses and ran across something else in Ephesians 5:

8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,

“Awake, O sleeper,
    and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

Then lastly, I was looking for my Scripture memory cards from earlier this year, and when I found them, I realized that the last verse I had listed to memorize in February was from Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a <sup class=”footnote” value=”[f]”>hill cannot be hidden;“

There was also a song on my heart all day that we sing at church called “I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light.” 

So as the day went on, I realized I had a theme, not one I went looking for, but one God brought me: Walk in the Light. As I’ve battled complacency and dealing with sin that keeps tripping me up, I was encouraged that He will teach me the way to go. He will light my path. I keep my eyes on Him and walk in the Light, and He will free me from habitual sin and easy entanglements.

There are some sins in life where I feel God gave me supernatural, immediate freedom (though I still have to deal with it, but not at the same level or intensity that once was), and other things that seem more minor (yet sin is never really minor!) and easy to live with or justify or just think I’ll always have to live with. Those are the ones I feel like God is telling me that is not the case. He is powerful enough to overcome these, too, but He is wanting me to seek Him about them, to walk in the Light, to let Him do the work by His power and strength, but to be willing to let Him and to do the work He is asking of me. He can break these familiar and long lasting strongholds that seem impossible to be free of. 

Do you know what I mean? Do you walk around with things that you’ve just accepted as part of life and not really allowed Him to deal with? I need to allow Him to retrain me, to help me rethink, to revive me so that I walk more fully in Him and His light!

I know it might be hard, but I want to be willing to surrender to Him. So “I want to walk as a child of the Light, I want to follow Jesus.”

Two weeks of summer to go until school starts and my regular work routine begins again! I have loved capturing the summer by weeks this year. It has been the best summer I can remember having in many, many years! Thank you, Lord!

Weeks Two through Five of Summer!

Carolyn

The weeks are passing quickly this summer! We spent Weeks Two and Three in the UK.

London
Cambridge
punting the Cam
Ely
Ely Cathedral, a favorite stop on our trip
We went to “Songs of Praise” at Ely Cathedral. We sang “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” (a favorite hymn of mine) and “How Great Thou Art” – beautiful!
Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Blenheim Palace
We loved Blenheim Palace and took many pictures inside and out!
Warwick Castle
Stratford on Avon
Shakespeare’s birthplace
Wales
Back to Cambridge
Cambridge American Cemetery

one of the colleges in Cambridge
We were so thankful for safe travels and health for everyone while we were away. We were traveling with my mom and my in-laws, so we had a lot of family which made it particularly fun. I posted about 200 pictures on Facebook, which was really only a fraction of what we took. I’m always grateful to travel and have my picture and knowledge of the world and history expanded.

We returned to the States, while my husband went on to Switzerland to finish another week with students that he teaches overseas in the summer.

Week Four of summer was unpacking, laundry, resting, and enjoying the 4th of July with dear friends. Our friends live on a golf course and river in a nearby town, and it’s becoming our tradition to spend the 4th with them, having a cookout and watching the fireworks on the river. It is such a beautiful and peaceful place to be, and the weather was perfect. We enjoyed the evening with good friends, but I failed to take pictures!

Week Five brought my sister-in-law and her family to town. We spent the week doing activities with them and their children.

Then Saturday I met up with my “big sister” from my sorority in college. We hadn’t seen each other in 16 years! They were in town for vacation, and we got together, and it was so much fun. I have Facebook to thank for how easily we have been able to keep in touch in recent years.

First friend I made in college: went through Rush only to meet people, not intending to join a sorority, but met a great group of Christian friends who made my years in college very special! Thankful to the Lord for this dear friend and her influence in my life!
Now we enter Week Six, and I feel like we have a slow week ahead of us. I’m looking forward to it! We’ll be home the rest of the summer, and I love it!

My son is in workouts and camps four days a week. I have a goal to not eat out as much! I’ve been planning my menus and cooking more, and I’m enjoying it. I never know what to do when I have so much time on my hands, so I’m trying to make the most of it.

And lastly, my mom and I started our Beth Moore summer Bible study on the Psalms of Ascent. It’s only 7 weeks so we could fit it in starting late! It’s always fun to see the group that God brings together, people He’s brought in our paths. I last did this study five years ago with a couple of women I worked with at the time, and it’s fun to look back at what was happening in life then. We’re supplementing the study with Journey to Joy: The Psalms of Ascent, and they actually complement each other well.

I read the book Radical by David Platt before we went to Europe. I wanted to read it after I finished his book Follow Me. I am being challenged in the area of personal evangelism. I thought about it a lot after finishing these books, the preacher preached on it in Cambridge when we were in church, the book of the month at our church has been on this subject, and in other ways, it seems to be at the forefront of my mind. There are way too many thoughts for me to process here, but I just don’t want to be complacent. I think it starts again with prayer.

One other theme has been “looking up,” “opening my eyes,” “lifting up my eyes,” etc. I pray God gives me eyes to see and a heart to obey and follow Him each day wherever He leads, whether in the mundane tasks of life or in the adventures life brings, and to reach out to others in His Name.

First Week of Summer

Carolyn

There are all kinds of events and reflections from the first week of summer!

  • Both kids and my mom were sick with a virus. My son coughed easily through and kept going. My daughter got fever and is still getting over the cold and cough a week later. So a touch of sickness marked our first week.
  • My son began two different camps that will take up 12 hours of his weeks this summer. This has been both exhausting and fun for him. He’s liking the friends he is meeting, and I enjoyed meeting the coaches at a parent meeting one night this week. I’ve been glad to see my son step out into new things without hesitating. He is okay if he doesn’t know anyone, and he’s willing to give new things a try, and I’m thankful.
  • I’m getting used to driving back and forth to my son’s new school! It reminds me so much of my high school. I have loved becoming familiar with all of this, seeing friends out there, and meeting new people.
  • A big storm came across the Midwest this week. We went to my mom’s to stick it out with her and see what would happen. It had been predicted all day, and the weather map made it look like we were in for trouble. We prayed. In the end, it seemed as though maybe we got a little rain, but no hail, tornadoes, or heavy winds and storms that were predicted. It’s so easy in those situations to just say, “Wow, they predicted a huge storm and nothing really came of it.” But I want to say, “Thank you, Lord!” and acknowledge that we did pray and ask Him to let it go around us, and the storm did just that. So we praise Him that we didn’t have to worry that night with power outages and the risk of flooded basements and everything else that can come with dangerous storms.
  • My son and I are in the middle of probably our fifth game of Monopoly! We’ve been spending our extra time playing some games, and he is absolutely hilarious. I had a couple of girl moms at school at the end of the year tell me how much their daughters were going to miss him and how nice he had been to them, how funny he is, how much they enjoy him, and I was wondering about the “funny” part. What is so funny? But I totally get it. Sort of a clever humor tying in things in life to present moments in the game. I can’t even describe it, but we’ve been laughing a lot and having fun.
  • My daughter and I did a little shopping, but she wasn’t feeling so great, so we didn’t get too much accomplished. But it always feels good to get caught up on a few errands.
  • I am enjoying just being home the rest of the time, having a leisurely pace, staying up late, reading, sleeping later, enjoying time with the kids.
  • I read one book this week: Follow Me by David Platt. I would recommend it. It’s thought provoking. It focuses on discipleship and what it looks like to really follow Jesus and make disciples. My own story of how God saved me seems to be in line with the things he shares in this book, so it resonates with me, but he does challenge a lot of things we sometimes see and hear. It has made me also want to read his earlier book Radical which I have on hand to read next.

It’s been a really good, restful, full first week of summer, and I’m thankful.

Summer Update

Carolyn
At the Cubs game Saturday night

My husband returned today from his annual overseas trip. Students travel to Europe for classes and summer credit, and he teaches some of the classes in Italy and Switzerland. They tour many places, and he enjoys traveling and tour guiding/sightseeing. We are glad to have him home, and I praise the Lord for safety and protection.

It is always a busy time of year when he is away. School finished for my children, and I was wrapping up some things at work to slow down for the summer, too. So between field day, Shakespeare, 8th grade promotion, teacher gifts, parent teacher conferences, final field trips, and my working, we were on the go.

Once summer arrives though, we slow down and lose our routine and aren’t sure exactly how to spend our days! But it is a welcome change, and I have caught up on a lot of little things around the house.

So this is a big week for us!

  • I can return to blogging now that we have a computer back in the house.
  • I took my son to a Cubs game on Saturday! We were offered great free tickets, and I managed to figure out how to get there and back all by myself. It wasn’t too hard.
  • My husband arrived home today, just in time for his birthday this week and just after Father’s Day.
  • We picked up my husband’s third book in the Chiveis trilogy today. It will be released later this month.
The third and final installment!

Camp of the Woods

Carolyn

Our family just got back from Camp of the Woods, a family camp in New York. My children claim it’s their favorite place on earth. Here is the only family picture we got, right before we left on Saturday to head home. This is right outside our cabin which was on the beach.

The weather was so beautiful and warm (well, let’s be honest, HOT some of the time – in the 90s with no air conditioning), and the children loved boating, tubing, swimming, etc. The camp has speakers, and my husband was the seminar speaker for the week. We had a blast with the several families in our unit who were other speakers or there to teach the week’s sport of floor hockey.

My daughter spent many hours in the arts and crafts area, while they both enjoyed putt putting, the game room, and the rock climbing wall. We went whitewater rafting one day, too. So we can’t complain about warm weather. It was much better than needing a fleece for cool temperatures or a raincoat for rain (both of which we’ve experienced in past years).

We came back home through Albany, NY, and saw the state capital. It was closed, so the best we could do was take a few pictures. We were all pretty tired then anyway, and hot, so my husband took my son to the movies while I took my daughter to the mall and lunch while we waited for our afternoon flight.

We now have new friends in TX, AZ, NY, OH, NE, PA, MI, and VA! It was sad to leave this fun group of new friends. We spent each evening by the campfire with a few families, making smores and other food items, fighting the mosquitoes and getting to know each other better. The children have lots of new friends, young and old. So thankful for older boys setting good examples. My son loved hanging out with them and learning to play sand volleyball.

Our teaching was excellent, studying the life of Abraham. The Lord had used stories from Abraham’s life in my life during the spring, and so hearing these messages was such a blessing, hearing how God wouldn’t let him put stakes in the ground and the reasons why. We left encouraged.

If you are ever looking for a wonderful getaway for your family, check out COTW!