I am the sort of woman who mourns the end of the balsam arrowroot season. And who, is already sad about the lupines dying (though they will not bloom here for two weeks at least). The season for those yellow wildflowers this year was exceptional…every hillside of the valley was covered in them.

I can’t help but think about you as I see those flowers fade. How much impact those flowers had on me as they brightened up each day, as I pulled over to take photos of the sun setting on them. How much more do you matter to this planet? Your short and sweet life…it matters to us.

The energy in every room shifts when you walk in. We sense you. For better or for worse we know you are here. You are impacting every space you inhabit…what is it you are bringing to the table? What joy? What peace? What love? What encouragement and grace are you responsible for? How will you bless? What is your everyday contribution to your space and place? What of the Kingdom come are you responsible for?

A friend said to me recently, “I need a shirt that says, It is what it is” and I said NO! It is what we bring to it!

I know we can’t control everything. Oh I know. But we do get to control what we bring to it, what we take from it, how we perceive it, how we manage it, what we let ‘it’ do to us.

I have been tracing the lines of my sons hands lately, tracing his character as it develops. I want to know the depth of him so that as he enters his teens I can remind him of every good thing I know. I will teach him the impact of his courage, his kindness, his words and his love. I will remind him of his opposite potential also…how we are always growing towards one or the other.

Oh… my gorgeous wildflower…I love to watch you bloom.

Once a week we do not set an alarm. And on these days I wake to dappled sunlight warming our duvet cover. This morning I just stayed there, stretched my tired body out further. I went to the porch, read some poetry, climbed into the hot tub. It is 9:30 now…the kids are still asleep.

Sabbath rest is meant for us.

Last night my boy hit ‘the wall’. Four baseball games in a week plus school will do that to a profound introvert. He paced and hid and shouted “I just need alone time”. He reminds me always. He taught me how to rest. He helped me to see when we need it. He showed me my sin of rush and agenda and output. He is still my thermometer. He tells me when the water in our heads is getting too hot.

This week I was in well over my head. But the way I figure it…this is how we learn to swim. So swim I did and I kept my head mostly just above water. I know you are sure there is someone more equipped and better than you for the dream or vision in your heart. But it doesn’t matter. You were called for such a time as this, to such a place as your miraculously ordinary HERE. And so we step in, we serve to the best of our capacity.

And then…when you have done your good work, served the city to which you were called, loved with every inch of yourself;

You rest. You settle in with the peace that surpasses and you trust that there is nothing more required of you.

You are built for rest…it is as necessary for you as oxygen and water. Find your sacred rhythm and keep it…