So I really love the the time off, but there are other things I love about summer, too....
...the food, for one...the home-grown vegetables...the homemade ice cream...the fruit smoothie concoctions...all the yummy meals that come from throwing anything and everything on the grill...
...and the memories of summers gone by...playing in the sprinklers...bike rides uptown to Yarbrough's Grocery (rides that wouldn't even be permissible today)...the chlorine up the nose as we played in the pool...chasing fireflies...snapping beans...the smell of the public library, the indecisiveness over which Trixie Belden book to read next...lying out on the trampoline with good friends on quiet nights, talking and listening to crickets and gazing at the stars...
The mere sound of a lawnmower or the smell of fresh-cut grass can bring it all back in a flash. But as my grandmother wrote in my high school graduation card , "To smell the roses in life, you must endure the thorns...". So as much as I love summer, it definitely has its thorns...
...the blistering Texas heat...the pain of sunburned shoulders...the bug bites that'll drive you crazy...the higher light bills...the obligation to come up with more meals to cook...the kids' complaints of boredom after only a couple of weeks...
...but the worst part of summer for me is the yardwork. I clench my jaw even at the mention of it. The devil has a marvelous time with me every time I attempt it. I don't know how to make my yard look as pretty as the neighbors...I never seem to have enough gas or string...I don't know how to fix the yard equipment when it doesn't work like it should (and it rarely ever does)...and the list goes on. Basically, I just don't have any savvy at all when it comes to yardwork.
As silly as it is, my dread of yardwork often overshadows all the things I love about summer. I try to go out and conquer my yard with a good attitude, but the heat saps my energy and the equipment problems discourage me, and as is so typical, my focus shifts to the wrong thing and I am overwhelmed. All those old feelings of anger come rushing back...Why am I having to do this?... I've been deserted and left to handle all of this on my own... I can't do it anymore... no one understands what I go through...
It all makes summer seem like one big, unpleasant drought.
I have a friend who came from up north. He says he wasn't very happy about it when the Lord transplanted him to Texas a couple of years ago. One of the things he dislikes the most about living down here is...(don't be shocked)...this wretched Texas heat. Recently he mentioned that he'd heard someone talk about the strange practice we have here in the South of watering our foundations.This was a foreign concept to him. So it got me thinking...
...I was thinking about how we water our foundations...and how we water our yards...and how we water our houseplants, our trees, our flowers...
...and how He waters our souls.
Selah.
Yet my to-do list remains, staring me in the face, looming large in my mind and oppressing me, and I have to keep going. I know what my problem is; I know what I'm really thirsting for. I need Him now as never before to be my Strength, my Refreshment, my Spring of Living Water. And He is so faithful to be all of that for me and so much more.
The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Isaiah 58:11
I know I won't always be this tired. In fact, I'll probably feel quite a bit better by the time I get up in the morning for church. But for now, I'm going to go out back with my Mason jar of sweet tea and my Bible and swing for a bit...and have me a drink of some Living Water. :)
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