I am a mom through and through..I can’t help but to “mother” even when “mothering” is not needed or desired! It is in my bones to take care of and meet the needs of those around me…to nurture, protect, and love on immensely those within my grasp.

As a mom of boys- you can imagine how well received that is most days 😉!

I think that is one of God’s little ironic signs of His sense of humor…where He sits and chuckles at me chasing after my boys trying to get a crumb of affection either onto them or off of them to land on me!!

This summer, my desire is to soak up this season of my life to the point of overflowing. There is much to be thankful for and many reasons for me to remember that I need to be thankful….because of that, this summer feels different.

In the fall, there will be so much change. Our home will be down one member and those left are growing and changing quickly. We are very different people than the ones who entered the fall of 2017…this year has completely changed us so I anticipate more change on the horizon.

In the meantime, I am in the season of summer and I want to enjoy it!

Gone is the gloom of the winter, no longer is the pressure of the spring…here we are in the freedom of summer!

That perspective offers me a new insight into a passage I read this morning as I mash it together with some other quotes.

Paul in Philippians 1 writes from prison -his own season of gloom and pressure- his prayer for those he cares for:

I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ returns.

” So often we pray for our children to make the right choices. We want to protect them from the consequences of bad decisions and see them reap the rewards of good ones….Whether our children are 2, 12, or 20, we can expand our prayer for them to really understand how to make decisions that honor God” (365 Most Important Bible Passages for Mothers 197).

The reality is “small decisions can have a powerful impact” (196)…

What my sons choose to do with their present, their past, and their future is up to them…but I play a significant role in how they learn to make their choices.

They watch me make my own.

No pressure, right?

Every day I wake up and face the good and bad of this life…I choose to embrace it and lovingly (sometimes overbearingly 😁) hold onto those God has placed in my care- be it my husband, my sons, my family, my friends, my youth, my co-workers…

That is the small decision I make every day.

Sometimes, due to the busyness of life or the emotional place of another, I am unable to be physically present to those I desire to spend time with…

But distance, either physical or emotional, does not change my choice to love and hold tight.

My desire is that that choice impacts my sons in a way that their own love will keep on growing to allow them to keep making good choices to stay pure and innocent.

Summertime to me represents an innocence of childhood- popsicles, bike rides, ponytails, swimming, campfires…

Experiencing that this summer and treasuring those memories in all of our hearts is my prayer…

It’s this mother’s hope.