This Summer

This summer I've:

danced and flailed my arms around in a field,
cried in an upstairs bedroom at 1 in the morning,
written four and a half songs,
hiked part of the Appalachian trail,
swam illegally in a lake,
kayaked for my first time backwards looking at the mountains,
lit sparklers,
probably ingested glow stick toxins,
studied and discussed the book of Micah,
ate catfish at Cracker Barrel,
collected confetti from a starlit stage,
watched my best friend graduate high school,
ate ice cream from Bedford Farms,
almost finished the television series of LOST,
spoken to a homeless person in Spanish,
memorized Proverbs 3:58,
had good conversations with unexpected people,
celebrated God's goodness in worship band,
prancercised outside of a house late at night,
went to the beach,
took a walk with a friend in a construction site,
saw some good summer movies,
listened and cried,
took walks in the cemetery,
sang and worshiped on a red, white and blue float,
had chai tea lattes,
got to travel to a new state,
paddle-boarded at sunset,
played many rounds of Bananagrams,
read eleven books,
learned how to tie a boat to a dock,
jumped out of a kayak because of a gigantic wolf spider,
learned new songs on the guitar,
got up wake-boarding, (for only ten seconds)
sat in the Giant parking lot and listened to music in the rain,
traveled across the ocean into the city of Southall, London,
was soaked in the culture there,
met some incredible and inspiring people,
learned and appreciated the importance of teamwork,
had amazing times in prayer,
spent time with family in Missouri,
heard encouraging news about college,
experienced church in a new way,
bottle-fed baby goats,
had hour long phone conversations,
caught bronchitis,
played music at an open-mic night,
looked at houses,
have had so much trouble with my fear,
had trouble with finding my worth in people or things,
been convicted of jealousy and pride and selfish desires,
processed some changes,
gained courage in my heart,
was lifted from some of the anger,
and above all, though so much has changed from what it was just a few short months ago,
I've seen my God work in ways that blow my mind.

I'm thankful.

 I don't know what this fall will look like or how it will be or what will happen or how it'll turn out, but...I've probably already written this quote before:

"we're not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be." -C. S. Lewis

So long summer months, tomorrow begins September.

love, cait

song of the day: "All Creatures" by Kings Kaleidoscope