It's summer - can you feel it! The warmth on your skin, the breeze in the air. Frost is gone and the promise of summer is here to stay. Many children finished school this week and the wide open summer awaits us!
Except for those who have a 9-5. For those who aren't school children anymore. :) Do your summers escape you? Do you feel busy and stressed? Don't. Make this summer fun. And enjoy it.
This is what's on my heart this week. I thought I would just share a few tips that the Lord has shown me over the years.
“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”
3 Ways To Make Sure You Have An Amazing Summer!
- Be A Good Busy - Summer is a busy time, but be a good busy, not bad busy. This is determined by each person. Don't cook as elaborate of meals in the summer, don't can everything you think you should (unless that's your thing), have a dirty house sometimes. But do go to the pool once a week with your kids and stay up late watching the stars on your backs, take weekend trips to the lake or beach (Ohioers - Headlands beach on Lake Erie is wonderful! Go). And always, always linger around a fire for 3 more hours than you planned to and see what conversation comes up. This is a good kind of busy. You'll be energized by it. Part of saying no to bad busy is also saying no to some good things too, remember to rest! Take a break sometimes, don't have a productive Saturday every once in awhile. I guarantee you, Jesus will guide you in this if you let him (and it may begin with obeying the Sabbath).
- Plan Your Fun! - Let's be honest, amazing things often don't happen because we don't make room for them. Some people are really good at being spontaneous (which is also the beauty of summer), but for those of you who are not... use your task-orientedness to plan some summer fun! Start with making a summer bucket list and charting out a few dates- And do it NOW! Never let a holiday weekend go unused. And if you don't have a formal job make room to take these days off too! Take a weekend trip! Make a stay-cation! Visit a park! (Cuyahoga Valley Ledges trail is amazing - take a picnic!). Girls, if you want a cute place to getaway to for a day - Chagrin Falls! Beautiful town in the woods with a waterfall through it, get your nails done, eat outside in the brick alley at Ricks's cafe, climb down the waterfall while eating Jeni's ice cream, and stop at Trader Joe's on the way home.
- Joy - I am reminded over and over in my life of the beautiful lesson of joy. It's something the Lord started writing on my heart as a teenager, and I'm eternally grateful for it, because I've needed it. Joy. That amazing thing that we all have access to because it is a choice. We can't always arrange our lives or control what happens, sometimes different seasons are just stinky ones. But the beautiful thing about having a spirit that is not of this world is that we can be filled with joy in any circumstance. So do that. Doing little things everyday to celebrate life is apart of choosing this joy. Do things that will head-start your joy daily. Wear more pretty dresses, keep flowers on your table, put a shade of happy lipstick on, shoot a friend an encouraging text, put a slice of lemon in your water, squeeze a weekly breakfast in with a friend before work, dip your toes in the lake.
Joy is continual choice for me. Sometimes I find myself in a slump and have to ask myself why. I recommend taking time to pray in these moments, even if you're just feeling that life is mundane. Ask God to help you identify what is stealing your joy and give any stresses or worries to him. Confirm to Him that he is trustworthy. When I do this; take time to pray, I almost always see my mood lighten. Joy is such a blessing. Don't let the enemy steal it or your summer. Here's to a beautiful summer that we can all enjoy!
All my love,
