A Lovely Week

Cultivating summer gratitude

It appeared the way wild pansies do, suddenly, 
their bright colors spreading
and growing effortlessly
in the hard ground, where nothing else will.
~from "for when it's been a great day" by Kate Bowler and Jessica Ritchie

Last week I was GROUCHY. I love summer and I love my family but I wasn’t enjoying either very much last week. I wanted to blame my family (they were so demanding and insufferable :) ), but when I finally realized I was the common denominator in our family strife, I had to face the music. I’d spent the week feeling overwhelmed and almost exclusively focusing on the negative and frustrating aspects of my relationships and activities. Did I really want to forge through the rest of this season with this attitude?

I needed a little reminder of what makes this time of year joyful for me. So I started by making a short list of my summer musts—what do I experience as joyful, exciting, that brings my senses alive, so that I might fully enjoy this precious season of abundance?