summer

I am spending my first summer away from beautiful Suburbia, Hendersonville, Tennessee.  I have never in my entire life spent a summer away from my house on the peninsula on Old Hickory Lake.  I have never spent the summer away from nights at the drive-in, Maggie Moo's porches, laying by the pool eating Taco Bell and listening to 107.5 the River with my sunroof open.  I was home this weekend for my brother's graduation, and I decided I would take my regular morning run around the loop in Ballentrae.  I realized I would even miss my runs...weird.  Running during the summer in Hendersonville CAN be awesome.  There's just something about running in the shade of 100 year old oak trees, but still feeling the sun on your face with the scent of honeysuckle and the sounds of the fourteen year cicadas rooting you on.  Summer has come every year whether I'm ready for it or not.  Summer will come even if I forget about it (I won't ever forget about, but I'm creating an analogy here, people. Stay with me.).  Summer will come even if I don't mention it.

I am fascinated with the story of Esther. What courage.  I can only pray I have the faith to be a woman that puts the Kingdom before my own comfort.  The book of Esther is the only book in the Bible that doesn't ever explicitly mention the name of God. That doesn't mean that you can't see the hand of God working. More like read the hand of God working.  Whether we mention God, are ready for God, forget about God, He's still there.  He's still working, and it's evident in every cicada, every piece of honeysuckle, every oak tree, and every act of faith.