summer ends in a week.  

I realize I have not written here since the summer began.  this absence largely is due to the sheer number of people, and with them thoughts, that have travelled through my sphere in the last three months.  

yet again, the Lord has surprised and blessed me.  summer is not the only season in which he teaches, of course, but as so much of my nature is enlivened and taught through others around me, it stands to reason that the influx of people brings with it a season of discovery.  

impression.

I love words and meaning.  when I was making literature for fundraising for moving to london, I looked ferociously at definitions of words to frame my goal for said move.  what was it that I hoped to do in the lives of kids there?  

I chose the word "impression".  I loved how it was defined.  

• an effect produced on someone

• a difference made by the action or presence of someone or something

• a mark impressed on a surface by something

making an impression does not change the essence of the entity into which it is pressed.  a leather belt with a name impressed into it does not cease to be a leather belt after the letters become permanent features on its surface.  it simply is changed...added to.  it is altered but not beyond recognition of it being a leather belt.  

earlier in the summer, my friends and I did a little leather impressing, as we had happened upon a stamping kit.  we had varying degrees of "success". 

I was pleased with my belt. 

carley liked her headband. 

elston still sports his hat strap proudly and wears his belt even though he accidentally chose a "q" instead of an "o".  it just makes us laugh and adds to its character.  

mal, on the other hand, ended the evening in utter sadness not having liked any project she attempted.  

sam felt rather lukewarm about his work, if I remember rightly.  

I suppose whether impression is good or ill sits in the eye of the beholder.  the Lord works everything together for good according to his good purpose, so there is always an opportunity for Him to make all good.  

as I think about the summer, I will remember the impressions that have been pressed into me.  

I have deepened existing friendships with those who return summer after summer.  

I have learned once again the look of unconditional relationship.  

I have had fun.  

I have had thought-provoking conversations. 

I have done crafts for hours in silence.

I have met new people who speak truth, act silly, work diligently, and lead well.  

I have had seats saved for me, had coffee brought to me (just the way I like it), and had traditions of saturday morning breakfasts upheld. 

I have had people love on me by listening, by asking, and by giving.  

I have had shared experiences, shared family stories, and shared hurts.

I have had help in moving, joy in sending, and blessing in simply being.  

I have been challenged, convicted, and cared for.

I am thankful.

I am thankful for summer number two here in colorado bringing lessons anew and for it bringing lessons I never expected.  

God is good.  all the time.

this summer I felt pieces of myself easing back into place.  the pieces I only see when I am surrounded by people who celebrate me, not simply tolerate me.  

community is so important.

we are not meant to traverse life on our own.  

choosing the ones with whom to surround yourself is key to health, I have found.  

a good bit of my self-awareness is found in the stillness, yes.

and, as I say, so much of who I am is only revealed in the midst of those around me who choose to observe...who are my thermometers, as a dear friend once termed.

thanks to my friends this summer, I have added to my list of descriptors of who I am.  they helped me to discover hidden corners of who I am which were once unseen or forgotten.  

thank you summer family.  how blessed I am.  visit soon.

kb.