Summer Stories

If every summer has its own story, ours has been preparing for a big change in our setting, and it is passing by too quickly.  Of course, the lines around when summer actually is feel really fuzzy.  Does it in end with the shifting of seasons or when school starts back?  I guess for us it will be somewhere in the middle.

Every year when our new books for school come in, Ella gets so excited about starting back to school.  The past two years we've happened to start back on July 30, and my girl loves traditions, so she wants to do the same this year.  That means a little bit of summer ends for us on Wednesday.  But the Summer won't be completely over, because there is still a lot of Summer fun to be had, and homeschooling will give us the freedom to have it.  Saturday morning felt like Christmas to my soon-to-be Third Grader (Third Grader???) when the Fed-Ex man came to the door at 7:45 a.m.  He was on the ball.

But then she spent all day long having all kinds of fun on the lake with her friends.  Apparently, Ella's not afraid of being on a tube on the back of a boat.  She had so much fun.

KJ, James, and I joined them for the latter part of the afternoon and evening, and we had so much fun, too.  Summer is an in-between place for us this year, with our hearts full and excited about the future and savoring the place and the people around us now.  We're living between two worlds, but aren't we always?  By faith we live like Abraham who "went out, not knowing where he was going...for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder are God."

I've been sitting here staring at this picture of James on the boat for several minutes now.  I think my train of thought got a little thrown off by James' crying complaints that he wanted cake and presents and "Happy birthday to James," as if singing the song will make his birthday appear.  So that is life these days, all wrapped up with thoughts about England, thoughts about friends and family here, sorting out all of our stuff, and "When are we going to eat cake, Mom?"  How was your weekend?