Hello friends and readers!

Happy Summer. It’s certainly not been the best Summer in my existence. I’ll be honest, I’m not just taking every disappointment as it comes and dealing perfectly with it. I’m sure many of you are struggling with your own set of horrible disappointments. Last week I found out that the one event I look forward to and work towards all year has pretty much been cancelled. The National Bible Bee Competition where I get to see my amazing friends and be so encouraged in my faith. And that news was really crushing, and that’s okay. It’s okay to mourn for your losses and it’s okay to be upset about disappointments.

I’m truly sorry everyone who is hurting right now. No matter how small the matter might seem in the grand scope of things. Your pain isn’t too small to matter. God knows when every sparrow falls, He does care about your loneliness in not being able to see your friends. He does care about whatever it is. And go to Him, even if you don’t want to. Tell Him that your upset. He’s just that incredible and faithful. He will listen to it all and He won’t leave you there. He will pick up your pieces and catch every tear and hear every word you can’t manage to pray.

How do we pick up the pieces and keep going? I have writen a lot about hope on my blog. About living in the light and dancing in the rain. But now I thought that I might turn to the practice side of myself. Yes, it is there… Maybe… Anyways, I thought I’d give a few ideas of how to live in the light in the midst of the broken, mundane everyday.

Here’s my Summer Bucket List for living light:

10 Ways to Live in the Light:

1. Trust and Jesus: no matter how much you try, if you skip this step, you are not going to get anywhere in your attempts to live in the light.

“For God who said, ‘light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give us the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” ~2 Corinthians 4:6

God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). If you are His child and living in His light then you are also light. Isn’t that amazing? His light shines through us. But in this world, our light can flicker and become dim. And that’s because we can’t rely on ourselves for light. Don’t forget where the light comes from. It comes from Jesus. A dimly burning wick He will not put out. So go to Him, talk to Him, read His word and fellowship with other believers. Even if you don’t feel like it, because that’s when you need it most.

2. Get Outside: last night my dad called me to come upstairs. He opened the back door and pulled me outside with him. It was just the perfect kind of moment. A storm was just starting to sneak in and the wind had run ahead of it in its excitement. The trees waved their leaves and the wind cought my hair and it was amazing. If you live somewhere that’s extremely hot (90° to me is extremely hot) then this might not be as great. But that’s what early mornings are for, right? Take a walk, a bike ride, work in the garden; whatever it is you like to do outside. Go swimming whenever you get the chance!

3. Read a good book! I’ll have a List of great Summer Books to read coming up in the near future, so keep an eye out! Also listening to good podcasts falls in this category. If your looking for a podcast that will feed your mind truth and beauty and philosophy and simple loveliness check out Speaking with Joy. I’ve recently started listening to her and I love her podcast so much! Here’s a link to the her podcast:

https://www.podbean.com/ea/pb-qngse-e2369e

4. Make a Happy List: pull out your notebooks and favorite pen (everyone has a favorite pen right? or is that just me?)! It’s amazing the difference that it can make to remember good things. If we only look at the darkness we’ll forget about the light and then we’re in for a very depressing day. Write down as many things you can think of that make you happy, make a list of good, kind things you’ve seen someone do, make a ‘favorites’ list, answered prayers, times God’s plan was better than yours… The possibilities are endless.

5. Create: for me it’s painting and sketching. I feel so relaxed and happy when I’m painting. The feeling of drawing a brush across a page and seeing it fill with colors is amazing! Do that creative thing that you love. If you don’t know what to do here’s a few ideas:

• Try watercolors the easiest paint to work with
• Scrapbook some photos with pretty paper
• Start a doodle journal where you draw whatever comes to mind and don’t worry about perfection
• Try your hand at writing poetry
• Sewing
• Card making

6. Grow something: be it a garden or a potted succulent, growing plants is a lovely to fill your hours and caring for something and watching it grow works wonders!

7. Spend time with your family: your family needs you as much as you need them right now. Read to your little siblings. Start a book club with your mum. Make up a society with your siblings to do/discuss whatever you enjoy. Dress up and play pirates and Robin Hood and dragons and princesses with your younger siblings. Trust me, all those things are so beneficial to both both you and your family! And I mean, who doesn’t want to have an epic pillow fight once in a while?

8. Spend a whole day seeing what you can do for others: it might sound a little cliche but taking the focus off of yourself and serving like Jesus really does a world of good. It gets your mind off your worries and it is such a blessing to your parents. That pile of laundry that’s been sitting by your washer for a week? Go do it!

10. Recharge: listening to classical music and stretching has been my go to recharger. All true rest and joy comes from Jesus and please, go to Him first. That said however it is so good to take time to recharge your body -and your patience levels. For me it’s stretching and music. Or other times it’s just sitting by my window and watching the golden sunlight shine off the water droplets on the leaves and pondering. But doing something active really does help. And there’s nothing like some beautiful music to refresh your heart. My personal favorite song is Beethoven’s 5 Secrets as played by Piano Guys. 🙂

Summing it up:

I hope that this list will be helpful to you in living light every single day. It’s so easy to get pulled down by the dark and the mundane. So go to Jesus and try your hand at your own Summer Bucket List. Until next time!