The 2nd Hottest Summer

To say it’s been a hot summer in Texas is like saying it’s a bit chilly in Siberia. It’s been HOT!  In fact, by the numbers it has been the second hottest summer on record. (I lived here through the first hottest as well, in 1980.) We’ve had 68 days where the high reached the 100 degree mark or above--40 of those coming on consecutive days. But another statistic I found about this summer really summed up the heat. In the past 115 years of keeping temperature records in our area, only once has our highest low temperature been 85 degrees. (Read that again. 85 degrees as the low for the day.) Once until 2011, that is. We hit that 85 degrees or higher as our low mark on nine  days this summer. The hot was hot and didn’t abate when the sun went down.

So where am I going with this? Of course I’m going to the God who shows us spiritual truth so often through the natural world.

On September 3, I woke up and made my usual trek to the coffee machine. I noticed my husband outside in a chair on the deck. I opened the door to ask him why he was out there, but my breath caught in my chest before I could utter a word.

He looked up at me. “75 degrees. Isn’t it wonderful?”

My coffee and I joined him outside. As if that weren’t enough, the following morning was so cool (68 degrees with a brisk wind) that I had to put on my lightweight sweatpants and wrap a blanket around my shoulders in order to sit outside with my coffee.

As I thought about this summer, it has reminded me again of how God often works in our lives. We walk through scorching hot trials, where the sweat rolls and the heat refuses to back off even in what ought to be the cool of night. Day after day after day with no respite. We begin to believe that life will forever be marked with hot. Cool— autumn— will never again appear. We will live from one 100 degree day to another, with no end in sight. We convince ourselves we simply have to learn to endure the heat, and we soldier on, determined yet wishing we could remember what it felt like to be cold.

Then one day, the door of our lives opens to a fresh breeze that whispers cool across our skin. In the blink of an eye, when we’d quit watching for the end, life changes. The fire of trial dies down, perhaps not retreating to nothingness, but at least no longer alive with blazing intensity. We lift our faces to heaven and understand once again that He hasn’t left us to wither in an unrelenting sun.

So that’s what I learned this summer. How about you?


* * * *

Today I’m over at my friend Jen AlLee’s blog. Come join in the conversation!

Oops!

This week caught up with me and here I am with nothing to post! But my Sunday psalm will appear and I'll be back with something (probably a book review!) on Monday!

Hope your summer days are lazier than mine!

Summer Thoughts

I always think I’ll catch up on things during the summer, yet I always feel like I’m already running behind. I think it is the abundance of daylight hours that deceives me. Somehow I imagine there to be more hours in the day—hours for work, for errands, for relaxing, for being with my friends and family. But in spite of the presence of the sun, the days are still only 24 hours long. And somehow seem even shorter, given the amount I get accomplished each day!

Ah, summer. The love-hate relationship begins again.

The Summer of Schedules

Today marks the beginning of summer. Last son takes last final exam this morning, and then we’re done. Usually this means the onslaught of schedule-less days, which I hate. But as I’ve previously stated, we are in a season of life where everything is in a constant state of change. Summer is no exception.

The boys will have football and basketball workouts. One son will work at a nearby camp. The other will do his music lessons and care for his grandparents’ lawn on a weekly basis. Our daughter will work a corporate internship, with a rush-hour commute on both ends of her day. Last summer I spent my days writing a book. This year, I’ll spend my days researching one. And we’ll all continue to adjust to the ebb and flow of my husband’s new job.

So while former summers have been “sans schedule,” this summer will fall into the “uber scheduled” category. Hopefully we can still find a few open time slots here and there to take in a ball game together or sit by a pool. Because before we know it, one schedule will give way to another and we’ll find ourselves back into the swing of another school year.