The Summer Season

Summer is in full force now, as I feel the sun hot on my back. This morning I woke up in a tent, drank hot cocoa, and finished a good book by a sparkling river. I’d say that is a pretty good picture of this sunny season.

I spent the first part of this summer in India, where in fact I was fast forwarded into their monsoon season: wet and very autumn-like. But still the heat was my constant companion as I worked in the Dalit Education Centers, teaching English, playing with the outcasts, and seeing so much beauty and joy amongst so much hardship. I was the one being blessed by the kids I met there and the ministry being done. I drank chai, got mehindi, learned some Telugu, wore a sari, and saw a culture from the inside. It is said that India changes you, and I believe that is a true statement while I still hope to see more of that change seep into my life in America.

My life back in America so far has been such a contrast, even within itself. I was tumbled back into a hectic pace, a nomadic life, a confused heart, and noisy brain, unable to process. But after heartache, my best friend’s wedding, living out of suitcases in my car with the lingering scent of incense, I was ready for peace. For home. For family. For a connection with the change I had tasted. So I headed to my current location: Dayton, WA, tucked in the wheat-covered Palouse hills, and far away from the battering confusion my heart was losing against. And this is where I find solace in my best friend (my mother) and the peace of nature.

I have focused my attention to my inner musings and have watched them come out in songs I write. With my tenor ukulele in hand, I sat on the kitchen floor and wrote my first song in attempt to move in the direction  of healing. I smile now, when I catch myself humming the tune that’s in head and realize it’s my own. So I hope to write more, think more, pray more, and just be me for a while, as I soak in this season of my life: Summer.