Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come. Song of Solomon 2:12
In this northern land where it feels like winter lasts forever and summer is over in a flash, we Canadian women need to “seize the summer” and get the most out of it. Here are the Top Ten Things I Love about Summer. Maybe you will relate to some of them, or replace a few with some of your own, or add one of them to your own repertoire.
#10: Sleep in on Sunday morning: If your church, like mine, cancels bible study (Sunday School) for the summer, embrace this time as a gift from the hand of God. Have a leisurely breakfast, enjoy some quiet time for Bible reading, prayer and worship music and then head off to church, refreshed instead of rushed.
#9: Watch for shooting stars: whether alone or surrounded by your family, nothing beats the pure majesty of laying out under the stars on a warm summer evening and watching God perform His light show just for you.
#8: Roast something over an open fire: Hotdogs or marshmallows or bannock on a stick — you can’t beat food cooked over open flames. Even a burnt-to-a-crisp marshmallow is delicious outdoors. If you can’t sing and are too shy to “make a joyful noise” just enjoy the crackle and snap of the wood as the fires burns to embers and slowly dies. Remember the One who died for you.
#7: Plant something and watch it grow: is there anything more wondrous than putting a tiny seed in dirt and seeing the miracle unfold? Perhaps only childbirth beats it – but this is far less painful! Let your faith be renewed by the experience of seeing new life burst forth.
#6: Eat in the garden: Act like a nanny goat. Crawl around, eating your way up the lettuce, down the spinach, through the beans, into the raspberries and chase it all with a sprig of fresh mint. Don’t even wash it with anything more than heaven’s last rainfall.
#5: Take your kids or grandkids to the playground: Swing, slide, kick balls, play tag and when you get tired, flop down on the grass and just watch the little people. Let them show you how to recapture the wonder of the things God has made.
#4: Sit on a beach at sunset: Marvel at the vastness of God who created land and seas and everything in them. Whisper a prayer of thanks for the gift of another day as the sun dips below the horizon.
#3: Wake up to singing: Sleep with your window open so you can hear the birdsong when day dawns. If you’re not ready to get up at sunrise, tuck some soft silicone swimmer’s earplugs into your ears, roll over and return to dreamland.
#2: Stretch yourself: Bungee jump, scale a climbing wall, ride a zipline, hike a steep trail, ride the rollercoaster, gallop a horse…choose something that scares you just a little and feel the thrill of victory. Now take that new confidence and ask God what He wants you to do with it. Be ready to face your fear, step outside your comfort zone and follow Him into a new area of service.
#1: Eat ice cream: The best time for a whopping big top-heavy scoop of ice cream is late afternoon. Go ahead and ruin your supper. Better yet, add another scoop and let the ice cream be your supper. Sit outside the ice cream shop on a bench or a curb and lick the drips and gobble until it’s gone. If someone beside you is foolish enough to ask you about that silly grin on your face, tell her about the joy of the Lord (and great ice cream!).
Soon enough – too soon for many of us – summer’s days will cool and shorten, the kids will go back to school and the busy fall schedule will once again consume us. But you will be okay because you didn’t “miss it”; you immersed yourself in the fabulous fleeting beauty of a Canadian summer created by the One who makes all things new so that you can be renewed.
Hope for the Rest of Us 
Yes, nothing like a whoppin’ BIG cone at Edelene Dairy instead of dinner….or was it lunch!!
I would recommend another – read a historical fiction while you watch the garden grow.
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