On The Other Side of Summer

"But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."  ...Phillippians 3:13,14


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Oh wow. Summer time was brutal. 

^%$#)(*>!!

Almost didn't survive it this year. Eegads. Nope, ol' Debra went from this in early June--

To this in July and August --

She stayed inside the house both those months and man, cabin fever came early this year. So did my darn ol' winter weight.

Too many tests, I say! Too many tests.  😉

Now, sometimes I hung onto God like crazy and passed with A's or B's. But other times, oh, I whined and let the who-cares?-I-just-can't-focus-anymore fog roll o'er me. And got D's. F's.

But hey, in Today's world we must learn to 'soldier on'. Ask God to yank us out of Pity Ruts, so He can set our feet upon that straight road again. 

Anyway, today it's cooler--and Summer's grasp has been broken--hopefully for 2018's remainder. (We've got a dreamy 10-day forecast.)

I'm celebrating! Already feeling strong again, like the Real Debra (I actually missed her) though yes, part of me is disgusted by my Summer weakness. "You big baby," I say.

But no--not going there. Instead, I'm choosing the 'soldiering-on thing,' not gazing backward, but marching 'round the block again, reviving my poor yard and more faithfully writing here.

Oh, Life zooms too quickly to sink beneath regret or resentment-of-things-lost! Or to bog down, asking unanswerable questions. People all around us need our help, you know?

So today, I say rise up with me. 

Yet, if you can't? If it's still too hot where you are or something else holds you down? Please draw God closer and ask that He lift you mightily in Spirit.

Throw aside that 'regret blanket' and learn or be or do something new for others. Always, God's available to help us, always, He's there to do a new thing. Never does He leave us to ourselves. 

Whew. Thank-goodness.

"... let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith."   ... Hebrews 12:1,2

"... for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust."   ... Psalm 103:14

The good news? Summer causes me to super-rely upon God's strength and becomes a reminder to do this all year long, no matter how capable I feel within myself.


Forgive yourself, your weaknesses and everything that went wrong. Just do it, let it go--then move on.


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Tuesday while at my cafe, this song (but a different version) played and I thought, "Oh! Where do I know this song from? Where oh where?"

Finally while (nearly) crawling home over steamy sidewalks, I remembered: that French Canadian radio station out at the farm always played it!

Ooooo, you might enjoy this song, too. So fun, so French and it's not just a song, but one of those which is more like an experience. (And how wonderful when God uses certain things to cheer us. Tuesday and Wednesday here were ridiculous heat-wise, but this song made things better.)

Anyway, check out Dance Me To The End of Love here. So adorable, the old photos of couples and how we see them now, their love having survived, grown stronger.

And the French radio station--which zooms me back out to that sunny farm kitchen with the orange counter tops that I, oddly, miss--is here.

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