Summer....

In our home right now, our days are a bit lazy and our nights are filled with the dry dust that comes from being at the ballpark.  Our home school schedule is put on hold  for the summer and the tv is allowed just a bit more during the day.  Usually around 4:00, uniforms are being pulled on and a quick bite to eat is being thrown together.  Occasionally, we have a night of rain outs and the family piles together for a favorite movie or a few episodes of NCIS.  It's often hard to keep a routine except for one of inconsistency. 



I do better when things are structured and on a schedule.  Spontaneity is not something that comes naturally to  me.  I would love to embrace it more, but my innermost being usually craves a list and an itinerary.  I've also come to realize God made me this way in the same way He made my husband to be laid-back and more carefree - not worrying about schedules as much as me.  We have come to complement each other with our two personalities. 



Often during these periods of unscheduled summer days, I get anxious.  I tend to think nothing is being accomplished.  I desire the schedule that the school year brings.  Even as I write this, it's 9:00 in the morning and my oldest daughter is just now getting up.  My son is lying on the couch watching a tv show.  No one has had breakfast and we are all still in our pajamas.  I have to stifle everything within me that wants to start barking orders to make up beds, get chores done, and be productive!  I'm trying to realize that a little extra sleep after a long night at the ballpark and, in general, a busy week, is ok.  Even for myself, I envision a busy day ahead with laundry, housecleaning, and preparing for a weekend away.....yet here I sit at the computer. 



During these hot summer months, I especially become anxious that my children aren't getting enough spiritual training.  I usually have the best of intentions, but things don't come to fruition like I envision.  I plan for family devotions and extra bible reading that often gets interrupted by games of hide-and-seek with the neighbors, unexpected invitations to swim at friends' houses, or spontaneous sleep overs.  I often contemplate the fact that if we weren't so "bogged down" with baseball and softball and the extras that summer brings, we would have more time to spend together in God's Word.  The lack of consistency makes me antsy, to be quite honest.  I try my best to realize that even during the summer months, they ARE being trained, even if not as "formally" as I would like. 



Last summer, my husband and I began to notice a certain non-desirable habit forming in our son.  When asked to do something, he was not exhibiting first-time obedience.  We decided to use the summer months to train him into that habit.  We talked and trained and disciplined throughout most of the summer.  It was truly the focus of our parenting with him - knowing that first-time obedience to his parents is a foundation for obeying Christ into his adult life.  The other day when I told him to straighten his room, he immediately replied with "Ok, Mom."  That's not to say that ever since last summer, he has compliantly obeyed with joy in his heart at every request or command, but we are so much farther along.  I remember thinking how nice it was that he did not complain or that he wasn't non-responsive or aloof to the request. Even though he is not perfect, the habit-training from last summer has taken root.  It was a good reminder for me that summer can be productive in various ways. 


I remember a year ago thinking that my son would perhaps never obey on the first command or request.  It took many weeks of helping him, encouraging him, and reminding him what was expected.  I didn't even realize until a summer later that the training had been effective.  This was yet another reminder that things don't usually happen overnight, but more often happen with diligence and patience and with much time and often with me not even noticing......like......water on a rock.