This is a sweet haven. With it's worn wooden rockers, light blue painted ceiling, and amber glow from the street lights, it's more than a charming attribute to our house.
Summer has always meant being lulled slowly by the cacophony of frogs and ever-constantly chirping cicadas. It's nostalgic. As a kid, summer bedtime was always my favorite because it meant dad would take us on the front porch and tell us the same stories he'd told a million times, but would always change it up in a way that made us laugh til it hurt. It also reminds me of the gentle words of Mary Poppins "Feed the Birds" being softly sung in my ear while my mom was stroking my hair back and slowly rocking.
Life slows down on our front porch. It's calm, and things never seem as big a deal when I just listen to the soft sounds of summer around me. The same sounds that have surrounded me since I was a child.
I'm always reminded that life will still continue on, regardless of circumstances. This porch was here the summer my brother left for the Army the first time, it was here when I was about to start every first day of school ever, and it's here now.
It kinda reminds me of that verse in Matthew that asks why we worry when the birds don't (Matthew 6:25-34). No matter what has come in the past 16 years of life, every summer the cicadas were still here to utter their distinct melodies. There's something about that that calms me. It leaves me to rest in the sameness of God.
I know that Saturday I wrote some really hard things, and it was honest. But man, this is equally as honest. God is still faithful, and even days like Saturday, when I give up on Him, He still let's me be apart of goodness and mercy.
I'm seeing my smallness this summer. Man, I am nothing, and I don't do anything right, and even when I end it there, God doesn't. He brings a "new summer" in a sense. A time to remind me that life is going to continue, and it's gonna be ugly, but He is sameness. I love that I serve a God that let's me give Him the spiritual middle finger (if there is such a thing) and still allows me to abide in goodness. That's unreal and I forget a lot.
I have written this blessing over people a bunch of times, I think it's beautiful, and a good sentiment of what I want for people (including myself) to know in the marrow of our bones. May this benediction settle over your and my souls well.
May the Lord bless us and keep us, may He make His face shine upon us and give us His peace, and may we always love the Lord first, above all else.
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