It's a Sunday evening. The sun's beginning to set, giving each building a golden glow. With each passing day, the weather is feeling more like summer. I'm standing on my balcony, slowly removing each clothespin that held the clothes in place as they blew in the warm day's sun. Voices of children playing, echo between the tall , cement apartment buildings that fill our neighborhood. I hear a repetitive squeaking sound. It's the neighbor girl in her roller blades, gliding back and forth in the alley below.
I breathe deep as my mind wanders back to my childhood days of long summer nights playing outside. The evening bike rides; a spot on the bleachers at the ball field; long afternoons at the pool; picnics at the beach; the Great Jones County Fair, and the list goes on. To me, summer was a break from the normal routine. A time to look forward to longer days and late nights. A time to take summer vacations where memories were made that would last a lifetime.
There was a bit of a pit in my stomach. I longed for the familiar. As I thought about what summer WAS to me, and the memories that I have, I had to ask God to give me a new outlook. This summer would be different. We won't be able to do all of the same things that filled our summers, but there will be many new things that we would never experience if living in the States. Even though I can't give my boys all of the same summer memories I grew up making, there's opportunities to make new ones.
I pray that God would give me the hope and trust that He has more for me than I can imagine or dream. May I rest in HIS plan.
Here's to many new and amazing summer memories sweet boys!
