Here are some of my favorite lines from those of you who participated in Tuesdays Unwrapped this week.

“I mourned the end of summer break and the start of a new season of my life.  The one where both of my children go to school all day and I learn how to be a different kind of mom.  He showed me that my youngest starting kindergarten is really not about me.  He reminded me that it’s been His plan all along, this growing up thing.” Brianna, And Then Some More

. . . because when I read her words, something dislodged from an anxiety place inside me and I could breathe a little easier. It’s not about me, this is as it should be . . .

“Outside, black to blue to gray to pink, it is the most amazing time of day. Light washes away Darkness, Dawn gives birth to Morning.” Patty, Finding Serendipity

. . . because she sees worship in nature as perhaps no other, and she appreciates the beauty of light.

“Test results do not shake Him. Disease does not confuse Him. Toddlers do not try Him. Sin does not override Him. He sits secure today.” Lara, My Adventure With God

. . . because she is a friend in real life and I can hear her sweet voice as she says it. And because I know she believes it and because I know it’s true.

“First I notice the…remnants from last night’s supper scattered beneath the metal table. How can I rest when carpenter ants scavenge brittle pizza crust? When a rainbow of moon sand from this afternoon’s play glitters across the cement, begging to be swept? So I sweep. Return broom to garage. And I sit again.” Michelle, Graceful

. . . because I do this, too; this resting that mingles with activity that just won’t stop. And because she finds a way to do both without feeling guilty.

Join us here every Tuesday as we seek to discover gifts in the midst of the messy, the lovely, and the unexpected.

Goodbyes are not my favorite. Which is why, when the end of summer comes around, I tend to want to rush through it and get out my fall candles and sweaters. Because if I linger too long in the endings, it makes it harder for me to transition to the beginnings.

It’s the same reason why, on the last day of vacation, I want to pack the car the night before and hit the road first thing. There will be no visiting the beach just one more time. There will be no last minute ice cream cones. There is us and there is the car and there is on-our-way-home. Because to linger is to be sad. I don’t like that.

But this summer is different. There is one full week left, and I’ve yet to pull out the pumpkin spice candles. There isn’t a hint of packing away the bathing suits. There is sitting by the pool and slow mornings and jammies ’til noon. There is lots of jumping in just one more time, over and over again.

I’d like to think Tuesday has something to do with this embracing, but it could also be because this is the first true summer break we’ve had now that my kids are school-age. I know the rush that is about to begin. And so I linger.

What are you lingering over today? The guidelines for Tuesdays Unwrapped are here. In summary, link up with the permalink to your unwrapped post, or your link will be deleted. I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Chatting at the Sky by either using the button or a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.

Imoomie is living out her “happily ever after” with an incredible man and inspiring children in North Carolina. Part thinker, part goofball, her time in the garden brings peace into her often hectic life. While bouncing between serious and silly, she seeks the One who planned her days. Visit her at Imoomie.

The night…was endless and restless, an extended time of tossing, turning, curling and kicking instead of the peaceful slumber I had longed to engulf me. This state of being bleeds into my morning and does not make for a joyous start to the day. I place one heavy foot in front of the other propelling myself in the direction of the waiting coffee pot.

A night spent like this makes my dark cup of coffee even more welcoming and delicious, and pushes me from my usual one cup onto two cups of the steaming liquid. I head outdoors to tackle the yard-work while the day is still crisp and the newness is still present, pruning back the vines and growth that spring brought, pulling unwanted weeds to make room for something new. Strangely, I find fulfillment of a promise in the possibilities this new canvas holds.

Something happens within me during this time, and the fatigue that rested its head on my shoulders disappears into the day. Hope has replaced worry and although my body is weary, my soul I discover, is refreshed.

The me that heads back to the house much later is a  new me who has been replenished, who has methodically placed the pieces into the puzzle within my brain that needed to be solved. I now feel peace wrapped around me like a flowing summer wrap.

God becomes exceedingly more real to me while I garden. Even when I was young, He met me there and spoke not with audible words, but with life into my weary, dry soul at times when I needed it the most, lifting confusion and replacing my earthly emotions with a balance that proves to be much more lasting. May your path lead you this week to the peaceful place where you know for sure, He will be to meet you.

Is there a simple pleasure that restores your soul? Do you have a daily gift that needs to be remembered? The guidelines for Tuesdays Unwrapped are here. In summary, link up with the permalink to your unwrapped post, or your link will be deleted. I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Chatting at the Sky by either using the button or a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.

Sometimes the daily gifts are light and easy, and other times they are hard to receive. Coming home from a high energy weekend, this homebody girl has been more than thankful to be back in my own space. There is nothing sweeter than home.

Even as I embrace the beauty and comfort of this home we have made, the images from The Man’s recent trip to Peru continue to come to my mind. Entire homes are smaller than our kitchen. And between those walls live so many people, mama’s with babies, just like me.

And I wonder why things are this way. And I sit in the midst of all my posh. And I question and worry and don’t know what to do. Even as I unwrap these gifts of home, I think of them.

I didn’t plan to write this, exactly. But as I searched for images to share of my home, theirs kept coming to mind. As I thought of the gifts around me, I couldn’t help but feel unsettled. With those Peru images on my mind, it is hard to fully receive this gift of home and call it mine and embrace it. I’m not sure what to do with it, except to notice. I think it’s important to notice. To ask why. To pray and beg for wisdom, to hold everything with an open hand, to remember that nothing on this earth belongs to me.

And so, I’ll say it again: Sometimes the daily gifts are light and easy, and other times they are hard to receive.

The guidelines for Tuesdays Unwrapped are here. In summary, link up with the permalink to your unwrapped post, or your link will be deleted. I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Chatting at the Sky by either using the button or a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.

They called for me from upstairs. Mommy, come up! And bring your camera! They had set up the play room to be a photography studio. For the stuffed animals. They were so very proud.

A few years ago, I probably would have maybe later’d them. I hate admitting that. But these days, because of Tuesdays, it made perfect sense to jump right in, get down on the floor, and shoot away. It didn’t last long. In no time, they had moved on to another make-believe scenario, leaving the pets to be stepped on and tripped over for the next few days. But we had those few minutes together, to laugh at the silliness of it all, to soak in those imaginary moments, to unwrap the loveliness of being six.

Is there a moment you would like to unwrap here with us? The guidelines for Tuesdays Unwrapped are here. In summary, link up with the permalink to your unwrapped post, or your link will be deleted. I would also ask, as a courtesy, that you would please link back here to Chatting at the Sky by either using the button or a text link somewhere in your post. Thank you.

If you are visiting from the DaySpring email devotional, welcome! Feel free to browse around and, if you like what you see here, you may want to subscribe to receive Chatting at the Sky in your email inbox or the reader of your choice. It’s easy and it’s free. So glad you stopped by.

I am always tempted to want what isn’t. When I’m with them, sometimes I long for alone and then when I’m alone, I miss them terribly. That internal conflict was one of the motivations to start Tuesdays Unwrapped – celebrate what is real and true this day, not what will be or what is to come.

There is nearly always a gift in the moment if we take the time to look for it. I say ‘nearly always’ because I’m just not sure I’ve grown to the place where I can always see the gift. But Tuesdays around here sure do help the perspective.

This week we had 96 people link up on Tuesday to share those moment-gifts, both big and small. And even though tears come easily for me anyway, it still surprised me when I felt their sting seeing all those beautiful squares of thankfulness in that post this week – your faces, your families, your stories, and your heart.

If you’ve never joined us on a Tuesday, I’m inviting you to do so this week. It is a lovely community of women (and sometimes a man or two). So keep your eyes open and your hands willing to receive the moment-gifts between now and then, and come back ready to share those gifts, those good things that come from an unchanging Father of lights.