Summer Basics
We live in a noisy world - literally noisy, yes, like the leaf blower that has been raging non-stop for about 30 minutes - but also the kind of noisy where we are being continually peppered with people’s opinions or products we should buy. Or by a child who keeps bringing you pretend cookies while you are trying to write a blog because she wants to play with you (I’m on my third one, and I’ve taken to calling them sandbox cookies because that’s where they keep coming from). She also has plans to feed my horses, make me a fish dinner, and get me a tablet for my birthday. What a dream.
I don’t mind that kind of noise because I am created to love, and sweet little girls like her deserve my love and attention every single time. To be honest, it’s some of the other bombardment that I could do without, but it’s rare I get to choose whether or not people share their opinions with me (or choose my ads without first being spied on by a tech company). Everyone in the world has something to say, and filtering everyone else’s “important” can be a little confusing at best or exhausting at worst.
When everything is important, is anything actually important?
I don’t think so.
That’s why this summer is all about getting back to basics for me.
It’s about standing barefoot in the grass and taking deep breaths. Doing cannonballs into the pond. Praying consistently. Smiling at strangers. Soaking up the sounds of the birds and the warmth of the sun on my thirty-three-year-old skin (while wearing sunscreen, of course). Reading. Writing. Laughing. Spending less time on my phone and more time looking into the eyes of real humans. Finding quiet moments of bliss to center on what matters most to me, grow in my relationship with Jesus, and get even better at hearing His voice.
Saying yes to all of this goodness does mean I will have to say no to other things, even things I enjoy, but it’s what is best for my soul right now. What I spend my time on in a season of growth will bear the most fruit when my harvest comes, and I want that fruit to come from things that really matter. That, my friend, is why I’m home on a Saturday night, click-clacking away on my laptop to write this blog, now alone and working more quickly because my friend with the sandbox cookies has gone off to take her bubble bath.
But that leaf blower (or demon because that’s how I feel about it at this point) is still filling the air with its unwelcome racket. And that’s just life, isn’t it? The good interruptions don’t always last as long as the bad ones, and most of the time we don’t have control over things as they are happening, anyway. However, we do have control over our response, over how we spend our time, so tomorrow, I will still (pretend to) eat all the sandbox cookies, and tonight, I will pop in my noise-canceling headphones because there are things I would rather hear and things I want to say.
Ahhhh, much better.
I don’t know if this is the journey you need this summer, but if it is, I’d love to go together. Perhaps, last year, you found yourself consuming more news, social media, advertisements, and television on your little rectangles than ever before, rectangles, mind you, that are known for their unapologetic noisiness. Maybe you suffered more from anxiety or loneliness or other negative emotions than you normally do. Life was strange and felt both simple (because we didn’t do much) and complicated (because somehow, a lot still happened). We navigated a hell of a year the best we could. So, maybe, like me, you need to take some time to intentionally turn down the noise and turn up the goodness during the summer months.
If that resonates, give yourself permission to step away for a moment.
Go outside.
Rearrange your priorities.
Center your heart and soul on the life-giver.
And then, watch how things change.
