July 18, 2012

Sometimes this little one can take or leave what is on our agenda for the day.  She would be content never getting dressed, hair uncombed, digging through her baskets of toys and cooking plastic food creations just for me--straight from her kitchen.  The life of a toddler. . .isn't it grand?

But we don't stay home every day, because there are two older siblings pushing to go here, to do this, or to do that.  So each summer day is filled with a precarious need for balance.  To do but not overdo.  And isn't that true with life, no matter the season?  Haven't we made a conscious decision to simplify? To cut out too many extracurricular activities that take away our family time?  To breathe deeply gulps of gratitude for this moment?  Summer need not be any different.  Rest is good.
And He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a while." For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.--Mark 6:31


So as we enter the last four weeks of summer vacation, I remind myself to take my cue from my children. If the calendar space needs to be clear, so be it. If there are more days spent home together than out and about, lucky us!  How we are in the final stretch of summer is beyond me.  It crept up ever so slowly filled with delicious days of swim and play.  Ice cream and barbecues.  Such sweet memories already recorded in our memory--Now, rest.  We become a little bit choosier with our time, our energy, and our days.  Summer is fleeting.  This balancing act, is not.