Hi friends,
I’m back! I took the last two weeks off to take a breath, enjoy summer, and just release a much-needed pressure valve. You ever have those moments? I was taking inventory of everything on my plate and just thought… something’s gotta give.
I’m truly so curious what this looks like for you and your family. What are your rhythms and how do you manage your family’s activity volume? [Just an editor’s note here that I’m 33 and a lifelong writer and still can’t spell rhythm without spellchecker.] How do you reset when it all just feels like too much? What do you do when the overwhelm is LOUD and it feels like things are piling up? Seriously, let’s talk about it on my Substack.
For me, it’s an inventory and purge of our workload + cleaning key parts of the house (if our bed is made and the dishes are done, things feel more under control) + a temporary freeze on taking on new things + moving my body more.
I saw something on social earlier this year that said something like: Whenever my kids are feeling more like a burden than a blessing, it’s a cue I need to get off screens, get outside, increase nutrient intake, and smile more with them. I’ve revisited that reminder several times this week. It’s such a good formula for getting the family back to a healthier spot, physically and emotionally.
How can it be that children are the most rewarding, beautiful gift, and all at once the most exhausting and frustrating thing? I swear it’s a reflection into the deepest parts of my own dysfunction. Summer days, for me, hold so much potential for fun and joy, and also unending, inescapable, overwhelm when your kids are in a bickering 24/7 phase. 🙋♀️
Here’s really the point for this one: So much of our life right now feels like the now and not yet. The in between. We’re new to Fort Myers, but also not that new anymore. Kids are going to start another year of school, but not for many more weeks. We have big plans for the future, but those could take a long time to materialize. I find myself feeling like I’m waiting on a new season when I don’t even fully know what that new season will be or when it will be here.
Waiting is a hard thing. We’ve been talking to our daughters about how even when we want to do something so badly, we have to listen to instructions and be patient first. We can’t do everything we want to do right when we want to do it.
Frankly, I need to be holding up a mirror while I teach them.
In sitting down to write this, I was researching biblical passages about waiting. I knew there were a lot, but wow, look how many verses a quick Google search turned up:
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18
“The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.” Lamentations 3:24-25
“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:13-14
We were given this hope when we were saved. If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.” Romans 8:24-25
I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps.” Psalm 40:1-2
“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope.” Psalm 130:5
“But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation My God will hear me.” Micah 7:7
“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
“We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.” Psalm 33:20-22
“The LORD gave me this answer: ‘Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.’” Habakkuk 2:3
This isn’t even all-inclusive.
It’s almost like God knew how much we (I) would need this message. I deeply want things in my own time, according to my own agenda. I can feel the toddler in me just thrashing against the constraint of circumstances outside my control.
But our instruction is clear. Wait. God is working on it. He will provide, and our end of the bargain is to show up in faithfulness, with hopeful and joyful hearts and a patient spirit. We are to acknowledge him, but not to rush him. To hope for the could-bes and to raise high our open palms for whatever He decided.
As John Ortberg likes to say, “There is a God. And I am not him.” A beautiful two-sentence summary of this whole point.
From the bottom of my heart, I hope summer is going well for you and your family. I hope you can make memories that you’ll look back on, remembering the challenges but also cherishing the preciousness of a season that we all know is hopelessly fleeting.
The prophet in Isaiah said it and I’ll repeat it: the Lord longs to be gracious to you.
In this with ya.
In Progress,
Alyssa 💛
For fun, I’m bringing back a little summer list of things I’m wowed/enamored/shocked/entertained by lately:
- Millionaire show. You guys. It’s actually called Million Dollar Secret. Jake and I are 👏 in 👏 to 👏 it. It’s kinda like a more modern spin on survivor. Less physical challenges, more deceit. It’s delicious.
- Speaking of delicious. S’mores bars. Brought these to a friend’s house for the Fourth of July, and oh my, they were good. Very easy and very summer-feeling.
- Bug bite relief patches. These things are little miracle workers. Maybe I’ve been living under a rock but our family just discovered these and I wanted to pay it forward in case you, too, struggle with being eaten alive by mosquitoes in the summer.
- Um. I watched this documentary on Netflix that came out earlier this year and I am so creeped out by all the microplastics in our bodies now. I already switched out a bunch of plastic for cardboard and glass. But I’m still fighting the feeling of defeat that WHY IS EVERYTHING TOXIC. I hate it here.
