August 24, 2014 – Dayspring Disciples

I’m not proud of this post. I don’t mean to sound all complainy. But this summer… never arrived.

Oh – after such a LONG, COLD, UGLY winter – I had major PLANS to enjoy this summer. I carefully restricted my working to just one eight hour shift on the same night each week. By doing this, we reasoned, we could plan for regular opportunities to have guests over for fellowship. I envisioned lovely gatherings, cooking out & enjoying the pool.

There were flaws in this plan. But how could I have known?

First of all – SUMMER NEVER ARRIVED. The calendar may have said June, July, and August, but it felt like April stalled and September came early. Temps were cool and it rained a LOT.

Secondly – John’s efforts to complete the pool deck moved much more slowly than he could have imagined. I can’t tell you how many times he planned to pull out the air compressor, saw, etc., just to see the rain clouds roll in. And although almost every weekend WAS delightfully rain-free (thank you, Jesus), our weekends included events such as: lawn tractor dying (which necessitated us PUSH mowing major sections); van stalling in Victor (which necessitated us having it towed to Fairport & starter being replaced); computer dying (which anyone who owns a computer knows can suck hours of your time in fixing); & windshield cracking (making us a one vehicle family for a few days).

Having the unfinished pool deck was a big problem. Not just because it didn’t look nice, but because it was a HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. I nicknamed it the death-trap and couldn’t let the younger kids play outside without me out there as well.

Finally – with it pouring rain so many week days, much of our yard work got pushed to the weekends. This kept me from reaching out and making plans with people, knowing we would be spending that time maintaining the yard.

There are other disappointments, as well. I never had time to paint the powder room. I didn’t get the kids’ memory boxes sorted out. And a handful of other, “I’ll do it in the summer” projects I had shelved during our busy school year. (I’m lucky to get groceries in the school year.)

I also found this summer Extremely Stressful in planning for high school. Transcripts, Literature Programs, Credit Hours, and Units. Microscopes, The Screwtape Letter, Logic texts, and Economics.

Medically I also dealt with low blood pressure and debilitating fatigue. I won’t pour out dull details.

All this to say: summer did not prove to be a time of refreshment and restoration. In fact, I’m almost ready to start the school year just because I’m tired of waiting for Summer Fun to come. She’s late to the party.

Thankfully, I don’t have to put my hope in summer. While I DO enjoy the reprieve it’s supposed to bring, it’s not the place I put my Real Hope.