🌻 Summer Care Package of Prayers

And Trailer for My New Book, Every Season Sacred! 🎬

Has summer left you a bit…exhausted? BIG SAME. I adore summer rhythms, but they can also leave me feeling a bit frazzled or adrift. I’ve been quiet here because I'm in the thick of parenting four kids, navigating special medical needs for one of my kids, and figuring out how to launch my new book into the world.

We have so much to talk about.

TLDR: This care package includes: A prayer for summer from my new book Every Season Sacred, a book trailer reveal, a summer reflection, some preorder news, and seasonal connection questions for you to tuck in your pocket.

PSST: Preorders are a huge gift to authors because it tells retailers our book is worth stocking. To thank you for ordering early, I’m working on a bunch of thank-you gifts. We’ll also be opening a launch team soon. Stayed tuned!

Parenting brings us in and out of seasons

Babies turn into big kids; big kids turn into teens.

Change is gradual, yet seems to happen all at once. 

Seasons help us understand our physical and emotional growth and guide us into a deeper understanding of our relationship with God.

Within the pages of Every Season Sacred, you’re invited to uncover the sacred in the seemingly ordinary, to embrace the fullness of each season of life alongside your children as you grow together. 

My husband (who just got ordained - yahoo!) helped me make the book trailer. A THOUSAND TIMES THANK YOU, JONNY CRAIG!

A Prayer for Summer

Every Season Sacred is split into four seasons, and then you’ll find a seasonal introduction and prayer, before getting 13 chapters (a chapter for each week of the year).

Here’s how the prayer for summer starts. I hope it’s meaningful to you:

O God of all seasons,

We thank You for the warmth

Of summer’s embrace,

For the sun that stretches over us,

Bathing us in light

And beckoning us

To bask in the glow of Your glory.

We ask You to surround our family

In this season of good growth.

Nourish us with Your

Summer rain and help us

To be rooted and established in love

As we bear the fruit You have for us.

Be near in the birds’ morning song

And the dappled sunsets at dusk.

Help us to see You in the sparkle

Of fireflies, whose wonder

Delights kids of all ages.

Help us to see You in the still waters

And the crashing waves.

Help us to hear You in the rustle of leaves

And breathe Your aroma in the lingering scent

Of a bloom bursting forth.

God, be near in the backyard games of tag

And the send-offs to summer camp.

Be in the worn pages of a library book

And in every nook and cranny of

The old wooden treehouse.

Sit with us on the baseball bleachers

And in the salty concession-stand popcorn.

Be near in the crammed suitcases

And forgotten directions

Of a family road trip.

Help us to be awake to the glory surrounding us

This summer.

Draw us to the people and places

You have for us to love,

And may our hearts be tender

To receive love in unexpected ways.

A Mild Midsummer Spiral

(An excerpt from Every Season Sacred)

LIKE PULLED TAFFY AT the state fair, summer stretches on. The sun is lazy, covering the earth in a yawn and swallowing us whole. Long days turn into longer weeks. Cotton candy clouds dissolve into dusk.

My kids protest bedtime when the rest of the world is still covered in light, before the fireflies have a chance to sparkle. “It’s not fair!” they chorus.

Sometimes we let them stay up, sipping lemonade and catching bugs, the bottoms of their bare feet coated in dirt. Their knees are covered in scrapes, their ankles are peppered with bug bites, and their noses betray a sunscreen not reapplied.

How often I’ve prayed for these summer days—for the cold isolation of winter to melt away into summer’s welcoming warmth. Yet now that I have what I’ve prayed for, I find myself listless. The air-conditioning unit shakes under the pressure, and I’m caught in a midsummer panic: Have I done enough? Have I made the most of these fleeting months? Why do I keep losing my temper?

Summer is slipping away like leftover sand from a beach bag. I see an article floating around about “only having eighteen summers with your kids,” and it sends me down a mild midsummer spiral. I wonder if I’ve wasted everything.

Questions to Ponder

Each week in Every Season Sacred includes prompts for spiritual conversations with your family to help you notice and name your experiences of God in your real, messy, holy lives. This is low pressure—no concrete answers or theological degrees are necessary to tackle these questions.

From the Divine Interruptions chapter from the summer section of Every Season Sacred:

• When were your plans interrupted this week? What were you doing? How did you feel?

• When have you interrupted someone else recently? What happened?

• What is your typical reaction when someone distracts you from what you’re doing?

• Why can interruptions be good at times?

• Why is it important to remember that time is God’s, not ours?

• What do you see when you imagine Jesus standing at a door and knocking (see Revelation 3:20)?

• What does it say about God’s character that God wants to be with you?

• How can you pay attention to the needs of people around you this week?

• What things have been getting your attention this week? Which of these things honor God and call you back to who you’re meant to be?

A Prayer to Share

After To Light Their Way (which is a collection of prayers and liturgies for parents), many of you have told me you’d like liturgies to pray with your kids, too — and I listened!

In each chapter of Every Season Sacred, you’ll find two sets of prayers you can borrow. One is shorter and might be more accessible for younger kids, while the other is more liturgical. (Whether your kids are toddlers are teens, I hope you are able to make these prayers your own.)

Here’s the “older” version of the prayer from the “Divine Interruptions” chapter.

O God, we’re familiar

With the many interruptions of life—

The sights and sounds that

Distract us

From focusing on

What we think

Is important.

When the world is loud,

Whisper into our souls

That the most important

Work is to stay awake to love.

Help us to find You

In all the parts

Of our lives,

Especially the ones that seem

Like distractions—

In the dishes that need washing,

The floors that need sweeping,

The appointments that need keeping.

Jesus, You are welcome in our home.

Who would You have us love?

Where would You have us go?

Grant us sacred curiosity

To ask where You are

In our changed plans

And our interrupted routines.

Help us to make space in our hearts

And in our schedules

To experience Your presence

In the people and places

That fill our days.

In the forest of our lives,

Slow down our days

So we might marvel in the trees.

Help us to pay attention to what

You have to teach us.

Help us to remember what matters.

Amen.

In Your Headphones

ICYMI: I release a reflective, short Liturgies for Parents podcast episode every Monday.

Each short episode features a prayer, some scripture, and a benediction.

Here are some summer episodes:

What do you think?

You know how I mentioned pre-order gifts? They’re little thank-you’s for supporting my writing and getting your purchases in early. We have some fun things planned (I’ll be sending all the details soon!).

I’d love to hear your thoughts on one particular extra download.

May all your life be a prayer

That’s it for now. Thanks for letting me take up a little space in your inbox. I know life is loud. I hope I added an exhale instead of adding to the noise.

I’ll write more frequent care packages in the coming weeks — see you soon!

about me | to light their way | writing & speaking | every season sacred | contact me

PS: For some, the word family brings back painful memories. For others, family is a place of love, nurturing, and healing. And for most of us, it can be something in between. But no matter how we’ve experienced family, we all know that family is key. Families were designed by God to be a beautiful place where we can experience love and connection. This is why Bethany Christian Services is launching the Champion for Family podcast.

I had the honor of being one of their first interviews — and I shared a story of real-life sacred shenanigans! Enjoy listening (and laughing at our expense).