These summer days

Oh, how I love the seasons and the shift they bring. Summer has a lightheartedness to it that is hard to be matched by any other season. And since becoming a mama, this time of year feels all the more magical.

These are the days of :

• scooter walks
• blooms on bushes in the yard
• family walks when Nicholas is done with work
• grilling hamburgers and trying sourdough hamburger buns for the fist time (amazing)
• a baby on my hip, or on my chest in the carrier
• video chatting and reading picture books with my mom in the backyard while Cooper plays in the bushes and feeds her "tea" through the screen
• visits to parks and hiking trails, seeing model trains, holding hands and building "bonfires," collecting rocks and sticks and climbing things
• watching parades and seeing my SIL, Katelyn, run a 5k and win her age group
• visiting the Lake, and all the sun and sand
• noticing all the green overhead, under foot, everywhere
• being the designated "treasure holder" on walks with Cooper
• spotting wild blackberries on a walk = an on-the-go snack

My days are full, with a three-year-old, and a five-month old, but seeing summer through a child's eyes makes it more special for me, too, in my early thirties. Nostalgia is pressing in from the happy memories of my own childhood, and these days, right now, are worthy of cherishing, too.

But as I'm in my nostalgia of these days, I want to move into worship. I want to see the good things and praise the Giver. To acknowledge the simple goodness of a popsicle on a hot day, the way Cooper's cheeks get pink (like mine) and his hair sticks to his forehead when he plays hard, the beauty in raising our babies alongside friends, growing food in our modest garden, making things with my hands, working hard and sleeping hard, going to church, snuggling our little boys, and attributing every single good thing to the Lord.

And one day, not that long from now, these summer days will be the ones I'm nostalgic for. And when the time comes to look back on these days, may I look back with a heart that is soft from thanksgiving, worn from days and moments of worship amidst the backyard pool days and lunch on the deck and sun on our faces. A million little moments for worship, woven into these full and beautiful days.