S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G

There are lots of things in the world that stretch. Some are pleasant---Like the stretch of warmed mozzarella cheese coming off a bite of homemade flat bread with fresh basil. Ooo...that's some yummy stretchiness. Or the stretch in jeans now-a-days. The fact that I can wear a size smaller than I know I really am just because I know there's a little give in them. I love this stretchiness a lot. I love it because then I can eat just a little more of the mozzarella goodness and know that I can still fit into my jeans. Or how about that brand new morning stretch after a great night's sleep? Stretching out all the kinks that my strange position put into my neck and hearing the ligaments pop and make ready to carry my body through the day. It feels amazing. In contrast, there are some stretches that are less than comfortable. Like the multitude of stretches I have put my body through attempting Pilates. I'm still recovering. Or the stretching that took place on a table in Physical Therapy after injuring my knee. The kind that made tears spring to my eyes unbidden and shocking in intensity. These kind of stretches hurt. Yet they are intended for good to come from them. Health maintained. Vitality restored. Strength-inducing.

God is doing some of those kind of stretches here in my home for all of us it seems. My husband is stretching his mental boundaries and making room for more genius to dwell in his cranium. He is learning the fine art of balancing loads of work, pressure of deadlines and a family who still desires him to lead us, know us and love us well. It's not easy. Sometimes he misses the mark. But he is growing smarter, wiser and more compassionate.

I am being stretched to see how much of myself I can lay down and die to. Will I be willing to serve my husband with a cheerful heart so that he can study harder and achieve more? Will I be willing to make less of my wants and more of what God wants to accomplish in me? Will I embrace those that the Lord puts in my path here and love them fully even when in a year I will have to say goodbye? Can I resist the temptation to protect myself? God is stretching me. It's not easy. Sometimes I miss the mark. But I am growing more humble, more thankful and more loving.

My children are being challenged remarkably this year as well. We have asked them to trust more deeply in the Sovereign Hand of their Maker and to walk in this painful path of leaving dearest friends with eyes wide open to the possibilities of God's plan for their life. We have asked them to exchange comfort and stability for the different and strange. We have switched up their schooling and asked them to trust us and try. It is going to be hard. It is already stretching the limits of what they think they are capable of.  But they will grow this year. And it will be good growth---Life-sustaining, faith-inspiring growth, Lord willing.

Sometimes the stretching is painful. But it is always for our good. It is mind-boggling and incredibly remarkable to me that while God gives us circumstances that cause us to have to stand on tiptoe, raise our arms up to the sky and reach higher, He bends to grasp our hands and help us to walk. The God who fashioned the heavens and put the earth on its axis stoops to hold me up. This thought makes me want to cover my face and weep. How can He love me that much? Yet He does. As He loves my husband, my children and you.

So stretch me more, my Father in Heaven! So that I might walk, hands-clasped with You and depend on You to help me take each step.

Breathing In...

Oh glory! Oh bliss! Summertime! I had forgotten how fantastic summer in the mid-west part of the States can be. Today has reminded me. It's August and I have my windows open and the air-conditioner off. That hasn't happened in at least the seven years since I've lived in Oklahoma and Georgia. My sweet friends in good ole' Okie are sweating bullets having survived more than 40 consecutive days at over 100 degrees. Yuck. Makes me extremely thankful to be here in Ohio! Today I ran errands around town with my sunroof open and my hair blowing in the wind. My kids were outside playing Bocce Ball, practicing archery and topping it off with a Super Soaker Water Fight. Tonight, I'm sitting on my back porch while I write this letting the breeze blow across my face and just breathing in. Have you breathed in lately? Do it. Right now. It feels great.

So here's my tribute to Summertime---these are just some of the many things that make it great to be alive and breathing in...

1. Summertime is the sounds of kid's outside playing---shouts of "Hi!" and "Wanna Play?" It's "Tag, You're It" and "1, 2, 3, Not It!" and giggles galore when swim-suit clad kids jump through the sprinkler. It's the strange circus-like music that is broadcasted over the neighborhood from the Ice Cream Truck and kids yelling, "Mom! It's the Ice Cream Man!"

2. Summertime is the smell of Hawaiian tropic, chlorine and popcorn mixed all up together while lounging at the pool. It's the feel of terry cloth on skin and plastic sticking to your thighs when you sit too long in the lounger. It's the sight of a dignified, balding man sporting wild-colored swim trunks and letting his grandchildren soak him with a water cannon just for the joy of hearing them laugh with abandon.

3. Summertime is when you throw caution to the wind and sit too long in the sun just because it feels so good on tension-bound shoulders. It's the sting that begs for aloe and the itchy delight of peeling sheets of skin off later. (come on---we all love a little skin peeling. Admit it. It's like the weird delight of seeing how full the vacuum cleaner canister gets after vacuuming...am I alone? Can I get a Woot Woot?!? Anyone?)

4. Summertime is knowing it's supper time without looking at a clock. The smells of charcoal and every cut of meat grilling hot and juicy floating in the air and beckoning you to the table. It's the time of year where men become chefs with metal spatulas and tongs. Where "cooking over a hot stove" becomes obsolete and where women can relax with an icy diet coke and watch her man cook for a change.

5. Summertime is the tang of lemonade, the coolness of a Popsicle and the taste of sweet corn. (Oh my, the sweet corn here is amazing. I had forgotten what it was like!) It's the time of year when you excuse the daily ice cream cone just because summer demands it. It's spitting watermelon seeds or cherry pits. It's the sweetness of a nectarine and the pucker of a Mango. Let's just face it, summertime is delicious.

6. Summertime is Pajamas until noon. Or all day.

7. Summertime is crickets chirping loud enough to drive you crazy all night. Which is why pajamas until noon becomes necessary. It's fantasies of hunting them down with a flashlight and killing them good just so you can sleep for an hour.

8. Summertime is celebration time in our house---3 out of the 4 of us have summer birthdays. Throw in America's birthday and we've got more reasons to hoot and holler than a fat kid at a candy store. And we do. Hoot. And Holler. With wild abandon. I'll have two scoops of ice cream, please!

9. Summertime is the smell of green grass being mowed. The sight of my boy-man with his freckled-faced red with effort at pushing the grass-munching beast across the yard. It's his satisfied grin when the work is done and both mom and dad are proud. It's the sight of my daughter's hair glistening in the sunlight as she plays with her dog in the yard. It's the smiles of both of them and the warmth of my heart thinking that they will have summer memories of their childhood like I have of mine.

10. Summer is time. Time to sit a little longer. Time to try new things without the school-schedule binding your hands and energy. Things like baking bread and building fairy houses with my daughter. Time to slow down and keep my eyes wide open for the goodness of God. It's sensory overload--but in a good way--and my heart is full.