Summah Time ... when the living is easy....

I am LOVING summer this year like never before. Fortunately, I stressed myself out the last few weeks of "school" organizing every closet/drawer/cabinet in my house so now I feel ready to enjoy our free time. Homeschooling is a wonderful thing but with so many little ones running around my home and needing attention, I didn't realize how packed our school year schedule is until school work was out of the picture. Housework no longer feels like something I am just trying to keep up with because day-to-day cleaning and enjoying life with my kids is all I have on my plate for the next few months. And it feels absolutely wonderful. Yay!!

I am ready to embrace summer and spend some much needed time resting in God and soaking up all the time I can get with him. I have realized that I haven't been practicing the presence of God in my life because too many other things have been vying for my attention. But if anything, some recent turns of events have reminded me that time with God should be my utmost priority because it has the power to influence every other area of my life. Plus, God is just so good. He's my creator, my source, my salvation. So I am trying to discipline myself to make intimacy with God a priority and recapture desire. For so long, I was burnt out on "religiousity" and didn't want to have to deal with the failure of not being able to live up to spiritual expectations that I was placing on myself. Being a mom presents lots of challenges and constant interruptions made it hard for me to focus in my quiet time. So instead of relegating myself to feeling frustrated, I allowed myself to rest in grace, and tried to approach my time with God with a more laid back approach. I think it was a season in life where I was learning a lesson but at the same time, I lost a sense of discipline in my approach to my faith. So thanks to one of my favorite all time devotionals, My Utmost for His Highest, I found a renewed sense of how important it is for me to be faithful in my relationship with God. It is just amazing how you NEVER stop learning. I feel so humbled but so happy.

I am hoping for a summer of rest and renewal. My hope is that as a family, we would be able to quiet ourselves and free up our time so we can hear God, see what He is doing around us and be obedient to those things He would have us do.

ooh la la

i have a weakness for party decor. balloons, streamers, banners, garlands- i'm equal opportunity when it comes to party fixings. and i am finding that the best way to have cool party without all of the stress that comes along with a week or more of feverishly assembling cool decorations is to make them as i come along cool ideas. it makes it easy as pie to throw together a last minute cinco de mayo party if you already have these (dana-made-it.com) ready to go. All you need is a sewing machine and colorful crepe paper. couldn't be any easier!