Summer::July Part 1:and God saw that it was good...

[Hurricane Irma has been a major disruption, but it's a story for another month--September, to be exact. And though it's technically now fall, I'm determined to resume my summer photo series where I left off at the end of June. It's bittersweet to look back at pre-Irma photos of our Pollywog Creek property, but July Part 1 is all about the beach.] 

July for me began exactly where June ended--with sand between my toes. 

Both the beginning and end of the first week of July were overnights at the beach with family in a lovely stilt house on a royal poinciana lined street a block from the gulf.

Summer days of beach morning glory, white sand, and warm salty breezes. Sandcastles, cousins, sunscreen, and body boards. Board games, card games, pizza, laughter, and a dance party. Blue-striped beach umbrellas and an evening sky lantern launch. Afternoon thunderstorms and those divine, glorious sunsets.

In the days in between, Emily left for Rwanda and Louis experienced what was probably the beginning of a detached retina--a situation that became a reality one month later. But first there was the beach.

God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 

~Genesis 1:10

If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 

~Psalm 139:9-10

Still Saturday::who knows...

TODAY

Every morning we enter a new day. Who knows what the day will bring?

God knows.

Which is why he tells us not to be afraid. He has already gone ahead of us into the new day.
He knows the way,
what will happen,
all we'll need.

In the morning we can put our day in his hands.
And let him bring into our day whatever he has for us.

And then,
in the evening,
we give it back to him.

And trust him with all that happened in it.

Do not be afraid or discouraged,
for the Lord will personally go ahead of you.
He will be with you. 
DEUTERONOMY 31:8 (NLT)

Sally Lloyd-Jones, Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing*, p. 172

*I bought this delightful book for my grandlittles, but I'm keeping one for myself, too. Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. PSALM 90:14 (NLT)

Having a childlike faith in a grown-up world: Playdates with God...

What if...what if Jesus gave us the image of children because they are so utterly dependent on their parents....one thing they did very well: opening the empty hand. Children are excellent receivers. ~ Laura Boggess, Playdates With God: Having a Childlike Faith in a Grown-Up World, p. 67

I hungrily devour each chapter in Laura Boggess' newly released Playdates With God: Having a Childlike Faith in a Grown-Up World, and then savor and digest each morsel of truth her words open like a gift. Laura articulates and validates what I've been experiencing since I serendipitously captured the beauty of a tassel flower and began cultivating an eye for life's mercies with a camera years ago.  

Laura gives a name to my photographic wanderings -- Playdates with God. She uncovers my deepest longings -- the needs I have, like that of a child, for love, intimacy and dependency on my Father -- that draw me to this practice where I ask Him to open my eyes to glimpses of His beauty, His character, and His gifts that I might capture them for my joy and His glory.  

In Playdates With God, Laura helps me realize the importance of being intentional to make this practice -- like Sabbath -- a scheduled event on the calendar each week -- a day and time where with open hands I'm ready to receive like a child what the Father freely gives. 

With support from Scripture, as well as resources in art, literature, science, and theology, Laura uses multiple images of play -- trampolines, swings, super-soakers, hide and seek, etc. -- to share her journey to recover a child-like faith through her own playdates with God in the midst of her adult responsibilities as wife, mother, author, poet and clinical psychologist.

To chase the God-bliss, do I dare step outside my preconceived notions of what a mature spiritual life looks like? Do I shed some of the self-imposed rules I subscribe to -- not worry about what others might think? ~ Laura Boggess, Playdates With God: Having a Childlike Faith in a Grown-Up World, p. 34

Playdates With God is a beautiful book I will long treasure. 

You can connect with the lovely Laura through her blog, facebook, instagram or twitter.

Thank you, Laura and Leafwood Publishers, for my complimentary copy of Playdates With God in return for my honest review. 

#PlayDatesWithGod

I {LOVE} Sunday::to remember the LORD's everlasting love...

But the steadfast love of the LORD
is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children's children
Psalm 103:17

{Photo: 3 of our children's children this weekend on Pollywog Creek}

With the Sunday Community at Lisha's #GiveMeGrace

I {LOVE} Sunday::to proclaim God's might to another generation...

So even to old age and gray hairs,
O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
Psalm 71:18

Green is the color of August...

An edited repost - my signature segue into August

There are two reasons I love the month of August: the green-tinted kaleidoscope through which we view this rain-nourished world around us, and though it's only a minor seasonal fact that has little to do with the weather, August is the last full month of summer. It's hump-month. We're half the way to cooler mornings and pleasant evenings and no mosquitoes. 

Not that I'm complaining, because I promised myself long ago that I'd cultivate contentment and stop wishing my life away in anticipation of something in the future.

To not fully delight in the gifts of the moment is both foolish and ungracious, for it's not only all I really have, it's abundantly more than enough. 

So I begin the month of August once again counting a multitude of gratitudes for a day and a week and a month of more than enough. 

• the color green - dotted with rippening beautyberries, a blazing flamebush, dangling clusters of wild grapes, and the giant orchids that have boldly pushed through the rain-soaked earth
• four days and nights to run my fingers through his soft curly hair and leisurely cuddles with a baby grandlittle
• Wednesday morning in study and fellowship with sisters in Christ and the teaching ministry of Beth Moore
• an evening round the table with Nick, Casey and Emily for the first time since Christmas
• the fervent prayers of righteous sisters carrying me through a seige with shingles
• the daily reading in the Word with Louis 
• my beautiful Emily home from Georgia - who makes days and nights with grandlittles possible
• a blue bowl of sweet cherries
• the assurance of God's new mercies every single day

Related: Green is the Color of August 

Photos: August greens on Pollywog Creek