Dear Summer,

Every year I don't know what to expect from you. Your season brings up a time of refreshment and fun, adventure and uncertainty, and everything in between. The possibilities are endless with you. You are one of my favorite seasons for this very reason. During the regular academic year, it is so easy for me to get caught up in all the fuss of work, school, and social activities. I'm constantly going, and never stopping to make sure that my whole being is keeping up. You come right on time every year, and I am grateful. You remind me of what self-care looks like and what quality time looks like. Not to say that all of my other memories aren't quality because they are, but it's a quality of a different time. You make time feel slow and fast all at once. Creating a beautiful mess of gatherings, laughs, mistakes, and moments of quite.

Every year, God uses your season to work in me and through me in ways I thought weren't possible. Giving me experiences I could never dream up. Some were bigger and more public than others which were quite and private. Your season is a time of drawing nearer to Him for not just me, but children of God everywhere. What a marvelous thing it is so youth and adults alike recommit themselves to the Lord. My heart always bursts with excitement when I think about how God will move through and use people during the summer to help not only themselves, but others around them.

This year in particular has been one of the best ones yet for your season. In truth, I was most worried about coming home, and in particular how my relationship with my mother would play out. I love my family and my mom with all my heart, but ever since my darker times there has been a hole in our relationship that I have found hard to mend. So, before the semester closed I prayed that God would use your time to heal and mend what had been broken. Do you know what happened? He answered my prayer. During your season, God has given me so many opportunities to get to know and reconnect with my mom. We've had numerous quality conversations, shared laughs, and a fun spontaneous weekend adventure.

For the first time in a long time I wish you wouldn't end. I don't mind being home. My heart still longs to be in the city, but my heart has learned that my true home will always be where my family is.

So in short, thank you summer for your season of sunshine and refreshment. I don't know what God has planned, maybe a trip to Europe, but I know without a doubt it will be a good one.

Cheers,

Kam