In the midst of walks on the gravel with our cousins, eating Grandma Judy's good food, endlessly pulling sandals on and off, and watching the maintenance men working the grounds, the Lord has been answering my prayer for our summer at camp. I'm happy to report that He has provided a sweet window of quiet time with Him every day so far. And not only the time, but He planted the desire for that fellowship with Him in my heart. He is so faithful. (I haven't made it out to the dock yet. It rained this weekend. Hopefully soon!)

I'm currently reading my usual devotionals (*see note at bottom of this post for a list of my favorites) as well as the book of Mark- which has been so, so good. This is the first time I've gone through one of the gospels as an adult, and with the addition of a study bible. It feels like a whole new ball game. Jesus is bringing me so much deeper and I just appreciate everything so much more and I crave the studying part of reading my bible. I'm keeping notes as I go, but I want to get better at journaling and meditating on what I read each day. I chose to start reading Mark because of something I read in Elisabeth Elliot's wonderful, useful book Keep A Quiet Heart (one of my big favorites) and I instagrammed about it a few weeks ago:

Whew! Hi guys! We've been here (living at camp) a week already and this is the first time the thought of blogging has even struck me. (!!!) We finished up the school year last Friday and the very next morning we packed up the car and closed up the house in town! And here we are. My days are much the same -- keeping my little ones in tow and entertained and fed and safe and somewhat clean, and the laundry in progress. I also wipe a ton of drool from my teething boy's chin and the cute little buns of my almost-3-year-old potty training/trained girl. I feel like I transferred my normal job to a new, prettier location, with super fun neighbors. Casper is getting close to the point of a good nap and nighttime routine and Hadley is loving living around her friends, playing endlessly, and sleeping hard. And we're working on not being afraid of Champ the camp dog ;)

Grant has already been out mowing (with eye protection on- don't worry) and the anniversary of his injury just passed. We are so thankful that the Lord spared his eye and we continue to pray for full healing and clear sight someday, if that's the Lord's will.

Summer's off to a great start! Tomorrow morning is the first staff meeting of the 2014 season and I cannot wait. I'm a sucker for meetings.

Jesus has been hard at work on my heart these past couple months. As spring came, so did my own awakening. This quote from C.H. Spurgeon sums it up right:

"Fair weather is smiling upon the face of the earth, and He would not have me spiritually asleep while nature is all around me awaking from her winter's rest. He bids me "Rise up," and well He may, for I have long enough been lying among the pots of worldliness. He is risen, I am risen in Him, why then should I cleave unto the dust? From lower loves, desires, pursuits, and aspirations, I would rise towards Him."

I really don't even know how best to document this transformation happening in me. So, naturally, I'll make a list. Here are just a few of the lessons and thoughts that are changing my life lately.... it would be so sweet if the Lord uses them to bless someone else in their walk with Him, and I pray that He would! But regardless, I still need to be writing them down, for my own sake.

1. My sin. I will begin at the beginning. It really all started on March 5th. On this day in history, I saw my sin. I mean, it wasn't the first occasion for that to happen, but this was different. It was nap time at our house, I went to the guest room to sit on the bed and feed Casper and I started to read my bible. Suddenly, like a grand unveiling, the Holy Spirit convicted me of sin. It was a specific sin that had been lying stagnant under the surface for years and the Lord revealed it to me in a new light.  I was deeply grieved by what I had done/had been doing. I felt the weight of my guilt. I felt the depths of His grace. I had felt them both before, but this was the heaviest and deepest (respectively) they had ever been to me. It was so hard and sad, so liberating and wonderful. My heart was broken, but bursting at the same time! All because of Jesus. I knew this revelation, this sin experience, was going to change me; it was going to unlock the dungeons of my heart and mobilize my will to fight against sin. Grant came home from work and found me still sitting on the guest bed, holding a sleeping Casper, crying my eyes out. He was so excited for me when I told him what had happened. And it was one of the best days of my life.

2. Feeling, tasting, seeing. Just moments after awakening to my sin, I went googling. I was looking up the bible verses I wanted to read for instruction and finding some articles for encouragement, and the Lord brought me right here:

"...maybe God has brought you to this point of feeling your guilt so that grace would taste sweeter than it ever has. We have to see our sin, but some of us have grown up in such goody-goody homes that we don't think we've ever done anything serious." - John Piper, emphasis mine.

The day after, I posted this photo to Instagram, to help me remember what had been done for me. There's nothing like a selfie to mark your memory. ;)



3. My good resolve. Just 2 days before seeing my sin, this devotional was preparing my heart. And it has left a scar on my sin attitude that, Lord willing, will not soon fade away.


4. The fight. This was so inspiring to me! Now that I am awake to my sin, and one in particular that I will do battle with on a daily basis, I can fight it! And how do I fight against sin? What do I do when I feel myself starting to cave to it? This tool is the first thing I turn to, because it works. And because it has become part of the way my mind moves. When I first heard it, it made so much sense. Piper's A.P.T.A.T. -- write it out somewhere, my friends. Here's the simplest explanation.


Well, these 4 items barely scrape the icing off this cake the Lord has handed me this spring. More heart issues to be shared soonish, so I'll say To be continued...

As I start out on a new year, I’m loving these radical thoughts: 

If death were the end of the matter, what makes sense is middle-class moderation to maximize earthly pleasures. But it's not! Does the hope of the resurrection shape my life? Do I make decisions on the basis of gain in this world or gain in the next? Do I take risks for love’s sake that can only be explained as wise if there is a resurrection? — paraphrased from the Solid Joys app

I'm guilty of putting comfort as my priority so terribly often. I want my life to be more than this. More than maximizing earthly pleasures. I'm praying that my deepest delight will be found in Him- in loving Him, keeping His commands, and living like Jesus did.



Some birthday pics with my babies! Ohhh, their little faces. This is true life. And I love it. I'm keeping these forever and ever!

And a couple pics from the night time celebration with Daddy and cake and presents. Grant had class that night, but we still snuck in a quick candle-lighting before the kids went to bed. (Not pictured is the ice cream I ate after the kids were asleep.) And Hadley sang Happy Birthday to me all by herself!

I'm writing this on the eve of my birthday, because I'm not sure if there will be time to stop and jot it down tomorrow. The night before my birthday I like to straighten the house, empty the kitchen sink, fold my clothes neatly, and generally do all the things. I think it's my attempt at a "perfect" day- where all the work is done the night before. :) Birthdays just make me want to get all my affairs in order. Speaking of which, I want to record where I'm at in life right now. A real diary entry. I like to do this every year and always hope I can think of things that I will look back on and laugh about someday. 

• Right now I'm at the computer desk with a jar of almond butter and a banana. 
• I'm wearing yoga pants and a zip-up hoodie because that's my uniform.
• My hair is in a pony tail and it's the longest it's ever been! No bangs, and not really any layers. My toe nails are blue.
• I just got done trimming Grant's neck and now he's finishing the rest of his haircut.
• It's 8:49 and my son (3 months) and daughter (2.8 years) are sleeping. They are my job and my joy. Somedays, it's easy to forget one or the other.
• I'm listening to a playlist that's a mix of Andy McKee, Nat King Cole, and the soundtrack from the movie Sabrina, but I've really been loving John Mayer's older albums lately.
• Our computer is humming at the moment because we're importing a bunch of old home videos from my childhood.
• Signs of aging: I went to Target and only shopped the kids' clothes. I take magnesium, talk about retirement funds and life insurance with my husband, and I need new bath towels. 
• My birthday requests this year: coconut milk ice cream and a pair of jeans that fit me. Also, there will probably be a big bowl of guacamole while watching a movie with my favorite guy. 
• Plans for the near future: buy/borrow a baby carrier, go to the dentist, hang some stuff on our walls (finally!), and support Grant through his upcoming eye surgery and the busy month of May. 
• In the past year I think I've gotten better at: thawing meat in time for dinner. 
• In the next year I want to get better at: trusting Him, not getting angry, not judging, world geography.
• I feel rich when: the fridge is loaded with avocados, my husband is home and his evening is free, the silverware drawer is full of clean forks and spoons, the promises of God are proven faithful in our life.
• Guilty pleasures: long showers, good typography, negative space, uninterrupted time to do creative things, British dramas, the dark chocolate lover's bar from Trader Joe's, Parks and Recreation, word games, coconut oil on everything, the Oscars. 

• This is the latest picture of me. (Half of me, that is.) Casper and I took a nap together (which never happens) and I woke up first!
• I'm currently reading 7 by Jen Hatmaker and loving it. I'm ready to start recycling and purging our house. 
• I've started keeping a quote book and it's filling up fast. There's a lot of John Piper in it already. 
• We don't have cable this year. And it's been great. How did we have time for it before?
• I'm making this maple mustard chicken and these roasted Brussels sprouts for my birthday dinner.
• We still only have one car -- the same car! It's been a blessing. 
• About Time is my favorite recently-seen movie. 
• We are planning on living and working at Camp Shetek again this summer! Actually, Grant will be the only one "on staff" this year, and I'll be full-time mom and wifey. 
• And lastly, but certainly the most powerful thing to note: Jesus. He is keeping me, teaching me, loving me. He has been made more real to me in this year. I love Him better than I did before, because I see that I need Him more, and more and more. Everyday, I need Him more. Jesus, keep on making me grow up in You. Let this be a year of Your glory.   

Jeremiah 32:38-41 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.


Happy, happy birthday to my twin sister Haley! She is my first friend and one of the greatest gifts in my life. I love every thing about this girl and am so grateful I get to do life with her.

You guys, I'm bursting. So much to say and share. My heart has been getting an overhaul lately and I'm dying to put it to words here. I think I may have to start a regular series on these heart issues, because Jesus keeps giving me new stuff to sort out. Also, Grant is the only adult I talk to on a normal day, so my word bank is just plain overflowing. But first, some news and some history..


Last year the Lord laid something on my heart: His promises. If you were reading my blog back then, you saw how He settled my focus. Everything I read seemed to point me back to His promises. I saw Him teaching me how vital and practical they are and I felt him pressing me to know them, claim them, and put them to use. I picked 50 of my favorites and made these cards as a tool to help me do this.

Over the last year, these little cards have been laying in my lap, washi taped to my mirror, flicked through at the table, and propped by our sink. They've been a tangible thing to help turn my mind toward the intangible, something I could physically touch and hold on to. They've been used in sickness, in times of joyful healing, during confusing and scary situations, while I was in labor with Casper, and in times when I was hurting for family members. But most of the time I use them simply because I need Jesus's help to get through the day and fight against sin and be a good mama to my babies. It is in these moments, when I humble myself before Him and see His Word at work, that's when these promises became my passion and big part of who I am. The cards are merely a tool, but they do help get these words down deep into my heart -- to a place where I know I can grab at them whenever I need them.


If you think the 50 Promises would be a helpful tool for you, too, you can hop over to my shop. I brought them back after a few months of maternity leave and they're shipping now! Just in time for spring and Mother's Day and babies and new mamas. (I have a lot of friends on the brink of labor -- can you tell where my mind is?!) We sent out the first spring batch yesterday. Huge thanks to all of you who already placed orders!

Love, Summer

I've been talking about these 50 Promises memory cards that are available in my shop, and I often forget to share how much I use them myself. When I'm having an off day, when I feel unmotivated, anxious, or just completely out of joy (it usually hits me in the mornings) I like to sit down on the couch and just flip through the whole stack of cards all in one go. It's like a shot in the arm. Really. 

But usually at some point during the week there is a situation that comes up, or a worry that won't leave my mind, that calls for picking one promise in particular. I read that one promise over and over and coach my mind to think on it. I pray over it, and I plead it. We glorify God when we plead His promises. He loves it when we take one of His own promises back to Him and say,"Do as You have said, Lord." As C.H. Spurgeon says in his legendary devotional book Morning & Evening (which, let me just say, YES, I highly recommend buying this one or finding an app for it):



Last week I was facing a situation that was (and still is) confusing and hard and sad and painful. I was aching to have clarity on how to handle/respond to it. I needed to respond to it somehow, and I needed to decide how I was going to do that. I needed guidance. And the Lord brought this verse to mind- Psalm 32:8, Promise #38 in my the memory card collection:
I had just seen this verse not long ago in one of my devotional readings and knew it was for me. It was perfect- exactly what I needed. I did recite it over and over to myself, day by day, all week long. And I did go to the Lord with it and I asked Him to "do as He said." And He did. I found rest for my mind and made my decision, knowing that He had instructed me. The only One who gives perfect wisdom, who never changes, and never fails.

My friends, I know you are facing lots of decisions today, this week, and always. Let me encourage you with my own experience from last week. When you are anxious about a decision you need to make, battle the unbelief, stress, and worried thoughts with the promise of Psalm 32:8.

Now it's your turn to talk! Are you using His promises and cashing them in day by day? Yay! Please, if you feel like sharing, I'd love to hear a particular promise that you have pleaded lately. Let's encourage each other and give praise to Jesus by talking about all the great things He has done for us. It doesn't have to be a long comment, just a quick reference or word of praise, because...