So this is July...

Here we are halfway through the summer. It's this point of the summer when I start thinking it's going to be over instead of thinking over what we've done. I've always loved summer. Summer means the sunshine on my face, wearing flip-flops every single day, vacations, ice cream, swimming, lightening bugs and knowing you have the whole day ahead of you. What I love the most though is not being confined to a schedule. Even though I am a planner, organizer, and far from being spontaneous, when summer comes I simply don't care as much. A couple days will go by that I don't look at my calendar. That isn't normal for me.

My summer days are filled with being some of my favorite people in the whole world... my kids. I am a mom that starts counting down summer vacation after January 1st. I enjoy summer vacation just as much as they do. Every other summer we go to our favorite place, the beach. This summer, however, we are home making memories. Staying up late watching movies, having bonfires and making s'mores, having cook-outs and picnics, swimming all day long, and spending time with friends and family. Does it really get any better?

I don't want the second half to go by as fast as the first. I want to welcome the days with excitement and anticipation. Sometimes this is hard for me. I can be a half empty kind of person. I don't want to think about back-to-school shopping, the fact that this is my daughter's last year of high school, my oldest son is going to middle school, my youngest is going to a new school, commitments that will come again when summer has ended, and that it will soon be cold. I want to hold onto these days and the moments that God gives me. A reminder that He is always faithful and good. No matter what the season.