This summer was beautiful. It might go down as one of my favorites.
I was worried at the start that giving up my role as a piano teacher to be home with the kids full-time would leave me feeling unfulfilled and anxious. It was a glorious summer season.
There were play dates and picnics and popsicles. We saw Toy Story 4 at a drive-in movie theater. We took a trip to the Los Angeles Zoo. During water week, we went to a splash pad, enjoyed our backyard water table, went to the Aquarium and the beach, and had a play date at a pool. The kids enjoyed a week-long science & art camp at Kidspace Museum and we all loved our week of Vacation Bible School at church. I arranged a museum week during which we went to the Natural History Museum, the Skirball Center, and the Norton Simon – the kids’ first art museum! I recall an epic meltdown leaving the Skirball Center. We did a science experiment to test household cleaners and Caden learned to cook eggs. He continues to perfect his over easy egg. The best part was our two week vacation in July. We visited family, went to the Oakland zoo, loved church camp, took a train through a redwood forest, relished our time with friends, fed llamas, and swam and swam and swam in Bass Lake. It was a time of play and rejuvenation and laughter and peace.
I marveled at how well the kids played together. There were definitely fights and time outs, but I was delighted to see how often they wanted to play together and how good they got at negotiating and pretend.
The weather is still hot, but the season has shifted. The kids are back in school. I’m serving as a leader in our local MOPS group and volunteering with our church’s Stephen Ministry, promoting next year’s All Church Camp, and getting ready for our mission/vision trip to India in November.
I have more time to myself now, and, predictably, I’m not sure what to do with it.
It’s been so rewarding planning for MOPS and serving at church. I’ve felt useful and competent in ways I haven’t been in years. I get to be more of me these days. I’m still parenting and cleaning and cooking, but I get to do event planning, critical thinking, teaching, team-building, promoting, and community empowerment.
So here I am writing. Reflecting. Because I also have these twin idols of my life – money and food. My personal reminders that good things can be corrupted by brokenness and some lessons are never learned. Some things aren’t problems to be solved, skills to be mastered, or goals to be completed. These things are work. Work is good and there is work to do this season.