Lazy Days of Summer?

I see my last post was Friday.  Today is Monday.  Monday NIGHT even.  Obviously, life has not been so quiet.  It's been noisy.  Busy.  But good.

In the past few days I've been surrounded by family and friends and focused on celebrating an upcoming marriage.  In my family, we are also anticipating the arrival of a new baby in the early fall; a grandchild starting school; a new job; and various other happy events.

In the past few days I've also been given the opportunity to pray for someone I count as a friend; to pray for family; and even for our little black dog whose eye was looking none too good Sunday night.

In the upcoming days I will be launching into a new project; doing detail work to wrap up another and send it into someone else's hands for a while; savoring the last few short weeks of summer vacation.

I realize that, while I've enjoyed the season, I've really done very little of the things I relish most about it:  reading on the deck; evening strolls around the neighborhood watching for fireflies and smelling the mimosas; morning walks with coffee to the Xeroscape.  I've been turned out more than in.  I've been doing a lot.

I suppose there are seasons of life that are like that.  Busy seasons.  Conversely, there are restful seasons.  Seasons when we're tempted to feel bored or ineffective.  But in those seasons we can be assured that we are experiencing a much-needed rest.  Even in nature we see the dormancy.  There is a distinct beauty in it.  I recall a Robert Frost poem:  My November Guest (a favorite of mine which I memorized in high school and still recite to myself on those cool, misty gray days I love so well).  "These dark days of autumn rain are beautiful as days can be. . ."

God put the seasons in place.  Each season has its own purpose in the life cycle of plants and animals.  Why not for humans as well?  As summer marches on, allow yourself to experience it.  Don't stay huddled inside by the air conditioner all day long.  Spend a few minutes outdoors.  Notice the lush green trees.  Listen to the cicadas.  Enjoy the flash of the fireflies.  Wonder at the power of a sudden summer storm.  Soon, these things will gracefully pass, yielding to another of God's well-designed seasons with all its own purposes and glories.  Let your own life reflect those glories in the pace you keep.