Summer is winding down and more than any other summer before as a parent, I chose to make it count.  As a result, this has been the absolute most fun summer ever!

Yet, while I was making it count at home, you were on my heart.  I’ve missed you.  I’ve missed sharing some of what God has been doing.

I promise not to overwhelm you with all of it in one post but I want to begin sharing with you some of what I’ve learned this summer (mainly from my kids).

The first week of summer was HARD!  I approached summer like a rookie parent.  I gave zero thought to my kids coming home from school and how it might affect my daily routine.  Living in denial doesn’t change reality.  There they were looking at me and me at them and it wasn’t pretty!

What did I want for this summer, for our relationship?  I wasn’t prepared to make the most of the time we had together.  Thankfully, God had a plan and quickly our summer kicked into gear.

Off To Alabama

We were off on our first adventure of the summer to Alabama to see our friends in Huntsville.  Jared and I both were able to preach, speak and reconnect with some of our dearest friends in the world.

There is something special about visiting a place where you have grown (as in actually grown up as a person).  We had babies in Alabama, we grew as ministers and a couple.

It reminded me of the different seasons of life God uses to shape us into the people He wants to use.

The two people that moved to Alabama more than ten years ago are not the same two that left because growth and development and a greater level of dependence on Him are all produced when we seek Him in our circumstances–no matter what those circumstances are.  

I am so grateful for the visit we had to Alabama because I was reminded of the sweet (and sometimes difficult) times of growth and development that happened while we served in Alabama.

We returned home from Alabama to start throwing things in a suitcase for our next adventure (and most fun week of the whole summer) that I’ll share with you soon.

In the meantime, share with me an experience you’ve had when you revisited a place where God grew and shaped you.  Was it a hospital, a town, a university?  What was it like to go back?