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Finding your Summer Rhythm: Small Practices that Bring Peace

 Summer has a way of speeding up just as my soul is asking to slow down. For years, our summers were a gentle mix of quiet days and small adventures, but lately they've taken on a fuller rhythm - wrestling schedules, Dungeons & Dragons nights, weekend getaways, and our annual Fourth of July trip to the Cove. It's a good kind of full, the kind that comes from traditions we love and people we want to be with. But even good fullness needs balance. 


Somewhere in the middle of the noise and the fun, I've been learning to pay attention to the small practices that bring me back to myself. Music has become one of my anchors - soft background playlists while I write or work, something steady that keeps my mind from scattering. D&D nights and wrestling pay-per-views are a blast, but when I need grounding, I need something slower. Something quieter. Something that lets me breathe. 


One practice I'm leaning into this summer is free writing. No structure, no pressure, just letting the words come. It's amazing how much clarity rises to the surface when I stop trying to control the outcome and simply let myself create. 

A peaceful summer day for me looks simple: coffee, Bible, music, and watching the birds from my patio. There's something about the way they flit from branch to branch that reminds me to slow down, too. I'm hoping to lean into event planning this summer - especially as we prepare for our "Day in the Life of the Shire" event in September. It feels good to have something whimsical and creative to look forward to. 


Spiritually, the Lord has been teaching me about seasons - how each one has its own purpose, its own pace, its own invitation. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 has been echoing in my heart: "to everything there is a season..." I want to lean deeper into the study I'm writing this summer, not just to teach it well, but to receive everything God has for me in this season of my own life. 



Our family is already looking forward to spending Independence Day weekend in Hendersonville - the food, the music, the hiking, the waterfalls. It's one of those rare weekends where everyone finds something they love. For us, it's a chance to disconnect from the pace of everyday life and reconnect with each other. 


But if I'm honest, what I need most this summer is space. Space to craft. Space to sew. Space to be creative without a deadline. Space to rest without feeling guilting. It's been a challenging year, and I've come out the other side, I can feel how much my soul is craving time away from screens. I'm on the computer all day for work, so I'm learning to put it away at night and on weekends - to let my mind breathe again. 




So this summer, I'm choosing small practices that bring peace: 

  • slow mornings with coffee and Scripture
  • Music that softens the edges of the day
  • free writing without rules
  • crafting and sewing for the joy of it
  • planning something magical for September
  • protecting tech-free evenings
  • watching birds and remembering to slow down
None of these are big or flashy. But peace rarely comes from big or flashy things. it comes from the quiet choices we make every day - the ones that help us return to ourselves, to our families, and to the God who holds every season. 

This summer, I'm choosing to breathe a little deeper, move a little slower, and trust that God is already in the rhythm I'm learning to keep. 

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