A Different Season

 Hey mamas! Can you believe it is June already? I am writing this on the 7th, and I'm having a hard time believing that we are already a week in.

I know that summer doesn’t officially begin until June 21st, but we are starting our summer routine anyway. We have been working in the yard a lot and have been doing more informal schooling. And this weekend we are going camping!

Photo from two summers ago. I can’t believe this baby will be turning three next month! 

Summertime is always a fun time of the year, but I am especially excited about this year because this is the first summer in my mama career that I am not either working and/or in heavy chronic pain.

Mamas, this is so huge! You have no idea what a difference it is. Last week I was weeding my asparagus/strawberry patch and started tearing up. Over the years I have not been able to keep on top of the weeds and my asparagus has suffered and I've lost some, but that wasn't why I was crying. I was crying because if things continue as they are this year I know that I will be able to make it back to maintain this bed. Not perfectly, of course (I do have six children, after all!), but I wont be sitting on my couch and sadly looking out my window at my yard, in too much pain to do anything about it. I am filled with so much gratitude when I think of it that I can hardly express it. Hallelujah!

And camping this year! It's such an important part of my children's summer (and mine too! I love being outdoors and spending time with my friends). Last summer I had to cancel two of our trips because of the pain, and there have been many others over the years that I really physically suffered through. I remember missing my ten-year high school reunion because I had tried to swim earlier in the day and was curled up in a ball in my tent, in so much pain I couldn't move. Ugh, it makes me want to cry just to think of it, it was so, so awful. 

But I don't live there anymore. It's mind blowing and humbling and I'm just so, so thankful.

What has God rescued you from, mama? We all have our stories. In the Bible we are encouraged to remember what God has done for us. We don't want to be like the Israelites, who so quickly forgot the nature and deeds of God. 

Maybe you are in the middle of your biggest desert right now. Don't forget, mama, how much He loves you! Don't forget what He has done for you in the past. Don't forget that He has a plan for you. And His thoughts towards you are good, and not evil. He has your best interest at heart.

I wouldn't want to go back to my pain journey, but I am thankful for it because it taught me so much. Hopefully the future wont hold such hard lessons, but who knows? The refining is a blessing, I do know that.

I meant to keep this post light and happy, like summer, but I ended up going a little deeper. I can't be grateful for the way things are without remember what I've been delivered from. It's exciting to be moving from one season to the next.

Whatever season you are in, mama, I pray that you find joy in it. There are always good and hard things that we are moving through, and going through the hard part while remembering the good is what gives us Joy in the Journey.

Lots of love,

Lee