I love this color palette. So summery, so simple, so classic. Too bad the weather is hindering me from emulating any of these outfits! Thunderstorms, lightning, tornado warnings...it's been an eventful week for us normally-spoiled Californians.

These conditions have been one more item on the list of my more-unusual-start-to-summer. I didn't move home, I'm living in an apartment I can't really afford yet, and I'm simply at another crossroads of life that leaves a lot of time for reflections and memories and thoughts to sort through. Like I've mentioned, my summer home has an extreme lack of wi-fi or cable, and with roommates who are working long before and after me, the Lord has been giving me an abundance of quiet time. Both literally and figuratively.

Jesus has been showing me that He has intentionally placed me in this period of rest. It has been a pretty crazy year, and He is now giving me the time to do nothing but seek Him fully and purposefully. My heart belongs to no one but Him, and the biggest theme I am going to walk away from this summer will be the art of learning what it means to have eternal value. All year He has gradually reminded me that I need to remember the joy of my salvation. I want to be concerned only with the things He wants and desires of me. The battle of flesh and spirit is so strong sometimes, but I am reminded that it is the qualities of Jesus that have a lasting value.

Thus I am practicing that discipline this summer; finally surrendering things that my heart and mind have been holding onto, and letting go of the importance I have placed on so many worldly ideas. This summer is mine. I have a manageable schedule, wonderful friends, and time to actually just sit and rest.

Happy (rainy) weekend!!

(POST SCRIPT! If you haven't heard Coldplay's new single, "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall," GO, NOW.)