35 Days...

Well...today we sent Garrett and Jackson back to school. (That's them with the hairy pits. Garrett is the big, Amish-looking one.)

Garrett is a sophomore, AND gets his driver's license next month. (Oh, sweet Jesus, help me!) Jackson is a 7th grader, who DOESN'T get his driver's license next month. (Thank you, Lord, for all small favors.)

Each year, for about two weeks before school begins, I find myself in a no-good, really-bad-day kind of mood. (Keven has learned to just set his face to the wind and weather this annual storm with me.)

Of course, I know the reason I get so...so..."angst"-filled (for lack of a better word)--because, with each passing summer, I realize the time is drawing ever closer when those two boys will be packing up a car and leaving for some college campus.

So, as a result, each August, I tend to begin measuring our summer by experiences we didn't have, memories we didn't make, wise words I didn't say...etc., etc.

And...at the very same time...I have the audacity to talk to my youngest about the importance of "seeing the glass half full"! (He's been bummed because, in his opinion, he didn't get to spend enough time with his cousins this summer.)

But, last night, as I stood at the sink slicing watermelon for one last high-schoolers party, I decided to take my own glass-half-full medicine....So, here goes...

Summer was AHHMAZING--if I may be allowed to borrow a word I hear from the many teenagers in my life! One with perhaps-fewer-and-smaller-glassfuls of family than Jackson or I would have liked...but, nevertheless, FILLED...FULL... OVERFLOWING...with family, old and new friends, new experiences, new challenges, new dreams.

So, from my WAY-MORE-than-half-full glass, here's a toast to Summer '09 and its Creator, for the experiences we DID have, the memories we DID make, and the wise words (if any) I DID say.

And...officially...Summer '09 has 35 days left. (I think I'll just pretend the boys are at some sort of week-long academic "camp".)

35 days...plenty of time for a few more gulps of family and friends, a few more memories and perhaps even a wise word.

"Teach us to realize the brevity of life,

so that we may grow in wisdom."

(Psalm 90:12, NLT)