It’s Been A
While…
Consistency has never been my thing. Unfortunate.
I wish it was…but wishing never gets us too far, does it? Rather than spend these few moments
regretting that I tend to be inconsistent, I think I’ll just move on. After all, it’s 1:07 a.m. Mike has gone to
Shiloh to work on tearing off a roof of a conference church there. He is gone = I am not sleeping. Blogging was on my to do list today, ahem, YESTERDAY, so, since he’s not here
to tell me to go to bed, I guess I’ll try to get this accomplished.
This summer marks a milestone of sorts in the Flora
household. This is, indeed, the 1st summer in Mike & my married life
that NEITHER of us is working a summer job!!!
We decided that we really needed this summer time with our boys…doing
things as a family and emphasizing to the boys as well as to ourselves that we
do in fact trust God to meet our needs, and that spending our days together is
more important than the extra pennies we could potentially earn if one of us
were employed throughout the summer. So,
even if we end up having to turn off all of our utilities and live out of the
clubhouse in the back yard, we are intentionally living our days of summer
TOGETHER this year!(well, except for tonight when Mike is @ Shiloh, but usually
work teams/opportunities take place while we are in school, so we are thankful
that he was able to go help this time!)
I
have decided to keep track of our summer activities on the calendar as sort of
an accountability to myself that we CONSISTENTLY live these summer days purposefully, because we all know how
fast summer flies by. I don’t want to
come to the end of the summer and find our bank accounts depleted (which
without the summer employment is likely) & also won
wondering “what in the world did we do all summer?”
As of today, (technically Friday, June 15, 2012) we have
been out of school for 9 days.
In those 9 days the Flora family has:
·
Taken a wonderful trip to Mackinac Island
·
I (Jen) went out to dinner w/ two friends to say
“farewell” to one as she moves to St. Louis
·
Enjoyed an afternoon/evening @ the pool with
friends of ours who usually reside in Bolivia
·
Completely cleaned and organized Grant’s bedroom
·
(Jen) Made my 1st annual trip to the
eye doctor for Iritis (thanks to a midnight elbow in the eye from Mike…oops!)
·
Camped out in the backyard
·
Cleaned up our van & listed it for sale on
Craig’s List
·
Gone to the dentist for Grant to have his 2nd
tooth pulled because it wouldn’t come out on it’s own, and the permanent one is
already in!
·
Continued working on our backyard landscaping
·
Helped prepare for next week’s VBS at church
·
Gotten new brakes and A/C installed on Mike’s
truck, AND
·
Spent an afternoon at Chain-O-Lakes State Park,
with Maxx taking his 1st ever boat ride
I realize that no one but the Flora Family (& if I’m
truly realistic, more me than the
entire family!) cares too much about that list. But to me, it’s significant. We’ve
done a lot over the last 9 days! These past 9 days have not been wasted
time. They are not lost income. These days were intentional! … full? Yes! Stressful, hectic, or grumpy? NO!! These were memorable days, and not because we survived them, but because we lived
them. I am so thankful for my family. And I am so thankful that we made the
choice to have less green in the bank and more life together this summer… pay
no attention if you see the Flora family eating a little more PB & J this
summer… I’m pretty sure it will be well worth it!
Happy 1st 9 Days of Summer!!!
