Like American Honey

Let me just say that I'm having a hard time getting that Chicago summer to-do list going since every time I turn around, I'm pulling out the suitcase and filling up the gas tank. But that part of summer is just as good as any Chicago summer bucket list! Still, last night Neal and I sat out late into the night at the Planetarium lakefront, city view full and clear in the night sky. We won't be accused of missing Chicago summer, no, not us.

So, if not much in Chicago, where have I been, and what of Epstein Barr anyway? (These are the questions I think you might have when I use my imagination. If I'm wrong, and you're really wondering things like what am I making for dinner tonight, or have I unpacked from my trip yet, the answers are I don't know, and no.)

Where I've been is home. Yes, again. Really, if you haven't been there with me, you must. Speaking of bucket lists, put that on yours. And as for Epstein Barr, it's hanging on, but I refuse to let it keep me from drenching myself with summer goodness! Can I get an amen? I'm squeezing all the juice I can out of summer's bright yellow lemon, and then when I'm not so well, I sit back and drink the glass of lemonade. Sometimes it's a little sour, but in that case, I add some sugar. "Sugar" such as holding a baby. Re-charging with my first Tolstoy. Having a banana-chocolate chip muffin because "it's a muffin, not dessert."

On this past trip home, Lady Antebellum's, "Nothing sweeter than summertime...and American honey!" lyrics sang out through my car speakers the whole 3-hour drive there, with fields along the highway blowing in the wind and visions of little nephews and niece and Grams and Granny and Mom and popcorn on the stove. And yes, I had just been there the week before, but that kind of goodness never gets old....especially in the summertime.

As it turns out, summer is not in the business of disappointment. We had Mom's yummy stove-popped corn every night, and I savored wonderful laughter and tear-filled chats with my Grams and Gramps at Gio's pizza, with Granny on the back deck, and with Mom on her bed as night closed in. Tiff and I got time to sit on the couch and talk while Connor slept and Garrett and Lilly transformed the foyer into a playground of imaginative ventures.

In the car back to Chicago with me came garden lettuce, peas, and pink hydrangeas. Score!

By the way, Mom's garden is absolutely teeming with beauty, growth, and blooms. Someday when Neal and I are done romping around Chicago, we'll find a little old house, have Mom over for the weekend, and plant gardens. I can't wait.

Last week when I was home, the "June bloom" hadn't come yet. This week it came in all of its splendor, and I just had to re-take my pictures to capture the colors and the essence of home in its sweetest summer glory.

One more thing before the garden pictures. In the book I last finished, "Cold Tangerines," the author talks about how songs can sometimes so connect with our lives. She writes, "The thing about a truly great song is that it becomes, truly and deeply, about our very own lives, regardless of what it started out as when it was written." I feel that way about the Lady Antebellum song that I listened to all the way home (thanks Ty for sending it to me!)

Here are the lyrics and the blooms at home:

She grew up on the side of the road
Where the church bells ring and strong love grows

She grew up good and she grew up slow
Like American honey
Steady as a preacher
Free as a weed

Couldn't wait to get goin'
But wasn't quite ready to leave

So innocent, pure and sweet
American honey

There's a wild, wild whisper blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend

Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh there's nothin' sweeter than summertime
And American honey

Get caught in the race of this crazy life
Tryin' to be everything can make you lose your mind
I just wanna go back in time to American honey

There's a wild, wild whisper blowing in the wind
Calling out my name like a long lost friend

Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh there's nothin sweeter than summertime
And American honey

Gone for so long now
I gotta get back to her somehow
To American honey

Oh I miss those days as the years go by
Oh there's nothin' sweeter than summertime

And American honey.

Memorial Day Living

If going home for a few days wasn't quintessential summer enough, Neal and I spent Memorial Day weekend with his family boating, swimming in the lake, and chatting out on the deck. The weekend ended with burgers on the grill, and it all felt very good and American.

Thank you, American servicemen and women of the past and present who protect our freedom, our pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness, and make this day of celebration possible.

I know our freedom isn't free, and my gratitude for you is especially strong on days like these.

The House That Built Me

Scenes from home:

The House That Built Me

The Loves
(Sisters, brothers, niece, and nephews, and Momma. Oh, and there's more. Not everyone got captured on camera!)

The Gardens

The Poolside Reading

"A collection of stories and ideas about the life of celebration that God gives us, this book offers a vision of life as a collection of bright and varied glimpses of hope and redemption and celebration, in and among the heartbreak and boredom and broken glass."

Love it. Perfect poolside, porch swing reading.

The Music

The title of this blog post was inspired by a song. Find "The House that Built Me" by Miranda Lambert on I-Tunes, and enjoy a good cry. Or if you're like me, listen to it 10 times and cry the whole time. It's a real good one.

Back in the City

The girl is back in the city.... but I'm not so sure the city girl is back!

After 6 days of porch chairs, lakes, boat rides, gardens, stars, late night patio chats, homemade smoothies, sunsets, expanses of lush green grass beneath bare toes, friends, family, babies, and.... big, beautiful houses.... I'm afraid Chicago and I are going to have to find our way back into love.

I have tons of blogging to do, and a re-acquaintance walk through the city streets (and an escape from the drilling right outside my apartment) sounds nice.

But until then, unpacking, laundry, groceries, and reminding myself that I have a life I love here in this little urban apartment are the order of the day.

MIA

In blog world, I am M.I.A, I know. To my city life, I am definitely M.I.A as well. I'll be back. But for now, wanna know where I am?

I'm away for several days, tucked in a rural utopia of a white wrap-around porch, wicker furniture and rocking chairs nestled amongst flowers and watering cans, a brick patio lightly shaded by a white pergola, gardens, trees, lush green grass, brats on the grill, fresh strawberries out of the garden, sisters and brothers and teeny nephews and niece, and a quilt to snuggle under tonight with summer breeze coming through the window screens.

I am home.

And I am red, very red. Something about the bliss of this perfect summer day and home and memories and my niece's giggles in the pool made me forget entirely, or just entirely not care, about SPF. Ouch. But somehow, it's kinda a good ouch. Makes me feel alive, carefree, and summer-ish.

My mom says I burned because "Chicago makes me white." She's got a point.

A Book to Top the Summer Reading List

Chances are, a good majority of you are totally ahead of me on this one.

But in case you, like me, hadn't read Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" as soon as it was fresh off the press and entered the conversation in churches and colleges countrywide, know that this book is well-deserving of making it onto your summer reading list. It was at the top of my list, and it so got my summer-reading- momentum rolling, as I was able to place a check mark beside it after just a couple sittings- it's really that simple and engaging of a read.

Sound too good to be true? Ok, here's the thing- what isn't so quick and easy about this read is processing its content. After scribbling in my journal and highlighting the heck out of the book, I'm still left thinking. Thinking, thinking, thinking.

And here's the other thing- this book doesn't just move around the "furniture" inside my head. It asks me to rearrange the furniture in my life.

To make more room for giving.

To make more room for touching the unlovely, the unseen.

To make more room for loving not the lovable people in my life, but the unlovable.

Moving my furniture around is hard, because it's heavy and set in place, and I've become accustomed to where things are. Hardest of all, my current arrangement is most comfortable.

But I have to ask myself, who is it most comfortable for? For me.

We are taught to think that our lives should seek to establish personal comfort above all else. And I want that. The problem is, when I read my Bible, when I read the "Crazy Love" book, when I read through Jesus' stories and teachings, I don't see "personal comfort" as the main piece in the arrangement- I see generosity, service, sacrifice, love.

So as you might guess, I have a sofa or two to move around.

Now you're probably thinking that you like your furniture where it is too, and relatedly, are thinking of picking up any other book than "Crazy Love." But opening the pages of "Crazy Love" opens you to a fresh and profound understanding of God's love, His crazy love, for you. And comprehending that love makes you want to get off the couch and give it a shove.

A Long Weekend Called Summer

It happened. Students studied through exam week, packed up their dorm rooms, and moved out for the summer. It all happened so quickly, and suddenly, summer is here!

The last night before all the students were to be officially checked out and on to their summer destinations, I felt so blue about everyone leaving. Neal and I sat down in the plaza late at night, drinking tea, and watching students mingle and say their good-byes to the city and to one another. I don't much like good-byes. Especially after a year of such meaningful relationships. Man, did these Moody students make our first year a good one.

[CREW: Neal's RA small group this year.]

But I awoke the next morning to that delicious feeling of realizing that it's the weekend. Yes, one big, looong, wonderful weekend called "summer" has arrived! Hardly knowing yet how to take it in, Neal and I headed out to one of our favorite parks along the lake. We found the perfect bluff to shelter us from the chilly wind and on which to lay back and tilt our faces toward the warmth of the sun. Heaven.


We laid flat on our backs on that hillside for... almost two hours.

It was simple, real relaxation. A perfect deep breath between the year and the summer ahead.

We talked about the year, and then we'd just lay in silence...we'd process some more about some aspect of the spring or fall semester, and then drift off again, all the while soaking in that vitamin D. We told God how thankful we are to Him for the privilege of doing of ministry at Moody. I had to tell Neal over and over how proud I am of how hard he worked this year and how well he did, because I just am.... so proud. And the way he took care of me month after month on top of his work day- there's just not words to describe his feat of faithful love and service this year. Thank you, Neal. Thank you, God. And is this sun really so warm it feels like I might be getting a little color on my face? Thank you again, God.

Right over the bluff was this:
Summer, you're here, and we are so happy to welcome you!

For me and Neal, summer goes from now until August 1. Neal still works in the office, but we have several weeks of vacation and lots of long, lazy evenings.

With calendar in hand, I mapped our summer:

Summer: 11 weeks
Days home in Chicago: 40
Days spent with families throughout the summer: 21
Days on vacation in Florida, just the two of us: 13

Here's a peek into a few of my summer hopes and plans:

yoga. reading. cooking. baking. exploring Chicago neighborhoods. farmers markets. spring cleaning and organizing my apartment. calligraphy. scooter rides every evening. a picnic at Buckingham Fountain. Lakeshore path bike rides. having my first Chicago-style hot dog. and so many more things that Neal finds it necessary to remind me that rest is in the plans as well.

And of course, longer visits with family, and welcoming my sister Tiff's new baby! Yummy, my favorite!

Please pray with me that God will bring about total healing to my body this summer, and that He will help Neal and I to persevere and experience His comfort and hope until complete healing does come. Until then, I will tuck these summer hopes and plans into my "good days" and at an easy pace. We'll taste life as it comes. There's so much to taste here in Chicago!

"I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let you heart take courage; wait for the Lord!" Psalm 27:13-14