Summertime & Sea-Monkeys

Summertime is in full swing and we are so very happy about it!  So far it's been a series of simple days and a little bit of VBS.  We have been anticipating the arrival of summer and it's lack of a structured schedule for several months. Becuase we had moved and I began a new job and everything else, the school year began to wear us down a good bit. We were a family that needed some rest.

And oh boy have we gotten it!  As my seven-year-old puts it "It's wonderful to be excited for nothing."  She is over the moon with the freedom to "just be" that comes with summer.  My youngest enjoys his summer freedom by chillin in a Starwars shirt matched with Spiderman shorts.

But who cares... It's summer!

And it has been splendid! My work schedule had worked out quite nicely thus far so things have been pretty well balanced. It's great to have time to have breakfast together, lunch together, and dinner together often.

Mmmm, yum... I can smell my husband making his delicious biscuits and gravy now. Rumble rumble goes my tummy as I try to concentrate on finishing this post!

It's been such a joy to listen to the kids play and use their imaginations.  Bike riding, fishing in the lake in the back yard, Lego's, Starwars, music, crafts, the list goes on and on.  Oh, and what does this child of the 80's introduce her kids to this summer? SEAMONKEYS!!! The perfect summer pet and science experiment in one! The kid's reactions to the unopened package in the store was worth the 3 dollars we paid for a small plastic tank that at this point holds water and a few specks, which really could be anything at this point.

Summertime memories are great.  I cherish them.  Sometimes it can be as if the memories are fleeting and I am going to forget this time with my husband and kids.  Sometimes it feels like there just isn't enough time, or I get frustrated we don't have the money to do everything we think would be fun and fantastic down the road in Orlando.  I feel that this year especially as I will be gone on my mission trip and away from them for nearly two weeks.  However their support and excitement engages them in all of it, even if they won't be in Slovakia with me.  We will have so much to share and talk about when I return.

It's easy to be anxious, to feel like there isn't enough.  Or to reject the simple season of life placed before us with feelings of discontent.  But this takes the blessings God has given for granted.  It's an ironic sort of idolatry that steals away the simple joys of life. Thanks be to God that he sends Jesus to take up my anxiety and discontent, forgiven my sins, and give me life.  I may not have everything I think I've ever dreamed, I may become annoyed and even angry when my kids complain and fight this summer, I may even become grumpy and not like having so much work to do, or true suffering might come.  But at the center of life stands Christ, who is with me in all seasons, reminding me through His Word and Sacrament how much he loves and cares for me.

So come what may, we will enjoy this quiet (as quiet as four kids can get) simple summer. Which in the end, because we have each other, won't be a bummer.