Hello Friends!
How quickly summer is passing! This has been a season of change and my first season with an empty nest!
Towards the end of May, my youngest son, Jerrod, moved out. It was nice to have him home during the eighteen months that he was here. I enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with him.
So, for the first time, my nest is truly empty. Although at times I am lonely and my home seems to echo with the memories of childhood laughter, maturing teenage voices, and lastly, the deeper conversations of young adults, I am embracing this new season and learning to enjoy it.
A new grandbaby arrived with spring!
Also in May, our family rejoiced with Jacob and Rachel as Wyatt James Campbell was added to their family on May 6th. Emma was excited to have a new little brother, and I was excited to welcome this new grandson.
Summer Busyness
Earlier this spring, due to changes at work, I went from a five-day work week to a six-day work week which has kept me away from home more and made it a little harder to keep up with the maintenance on my place. However, despite the many hours spent mowing and trying to keep my head above water or more literally, my head above the weeds, I have also made time to stop and just enjoy the created beauty and the unique pleasures of summer. I know they will pass quickly, and I hope, dear friends, you too are enjoying these fleeting days of summer. If you missed my post about a summer pause, you can read more in the link below. In this post I share how I have learned to be still in the midst of busyness, and I hope it encourages you in your own busy season.
If you want to find similar posts, click on Pausing to Praise at the top of the page.
A Remembered Grief
As the last month of summer arrives, I know the season without the aid of a calendar. I feel it and it sits heavy on my heart as my body and spirit unconsciously remembers grief. So, during this last month of summer, it has become my tradition in recent years to take a break from the deeper books that I often read and listen to the Port Williams series by Wendell Berry. Right now, I am reading That Distant Lard, a collection of short stories about the people and community of Port William. These books are so beautifully and poetically written that they feed my soul. And although they are fictional, they bring back a nostalgic history of farming and farm community that is also a part of my history and my grief.
These books remind me we are forever shaped by those we love. Whether it is in our body, our heart, or our soul, we remember them. Is there a day or a season in which you also remember loss or grief? I have tried many things over the years to distract myself from the sense of loss, but I have finally learned to simply be kind to myself.
If you missed the post about a summer sorrow and would like to read more simply click the link below. If you would like to read other posts on grieving and healing, click on More Than Mended at the top of the page.
Writing about hard things
This year I have also continued the hard journey of working through and processing past trauma and abuse with my counselor, Dana. This has been a difficult process but has continued to bring much healing to my wounded heart. And in this process God has continued to also use friends, books, and the ordinary circumstances of everyday life, to reveal evidence of his loving presence that is with me and each of us as we live out the individual call he has placed in our hearts. One of the books that was instrumental in this healing process was a book by Fredrick Buechner titled The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life. This book gave me the courage to write about suicide. It was something I have never written about before, but perhaps my courage will also be healing to someone else.
Parting Thoughts
So as summer begins to wane, I hope you look back on sweet memories and are filled with deep gratitude for the season. If your summer has held grief and loss, I pray you have also experienced kindness and peace. If in this season, past trauma and tragedy have surfaced, or if you have experienced recent trauma and tragedy, it is my prayer that my journey will encourage you in yours. And above all, I pray you find daily pleasure in God’s presence.
As we look forward to the cooler days of autumn, may the God of all comfort bring you peace.
Blessings to you and yours,
Sheila