Dry Land Still Emerging

Recently we were asked, "So have you been having a good summer?" It was an innocent, genuine -- and simple-- question. We had to think, however, how to answer. To be sure, it hasn't been the summer we expected to have. Months before we had made plans for these warmer weeks, and while they weren't in and of themselves the sort of plans that make hearts go "pitter patter", they were...well...plans. They had embedded themselves into our collective imagination. We had made reservations. We had bought tickets. We had drafted anticipatory mental pictures of the sights, the smells, the tastes. And to date, I can't think of a single plan that has unfolded exactly as conceived. And along the potholes and bumps in this road, we have, I'll be honest, felt some disappointments.

That said, the honest answer to the question is "yes," we have been having a good summer. No, it hasn't been what we had expected, but I would hate to the think that my expectations and anticipations would ever be the measure of possibilities. I have long since learned -- though routinely forget -- that God is still pushing aside chaotic waters to reveal more dry lands than I could ever fathom. And this summer's new lands have been filled with deep goodness. Both of us have gotten to spend sacred and privileged time with our parents, accompanying them through some deep woods that have come their way; gifts of presence we have been grateful to both give and receive. And, in so doing, we have discovered surprising way-spaces along the way in which we could spend equally holy time with each other in concentrations too rarely afforded.

We have been nudged into new learnings, drawn toward healthier lifestyles, and grounded by new disciplines. We have gardened, we have put away harvest for the winter, we have bought books -- and even read a few of them; we have spent hours in the kitchen experimenting, tasting, blanching, chopping, baking, sharing. We added a new freezer. Along the way we have thought about grandparents who must be smiling from their graves at the way we are freshly honoring their example.

No, there hasn't been much "flame and fizz and sizzle and spark." Anyone glancing at this site from time to time has surely noticed that I haven't seemed to have much worth writing about. Words have been few and far between. From the outside, it surely looks like a dull and disappointing summer.

But on the inside, we are...
...smiling...
...deeply grateful...
...content...

...making fresh plans, and...

...wondering what alternatives will ultimately take their place.