Blue Sky

The floor needs to be swept...again...and there's still half a pile of laundry waiting to be folded. But today, this is more important. It's been one of those months where I've been word hungry—dying to write, but with little or no time to do it. Finally, I get to sit down and have a good, home-cooked word meal. I'll have to eat quick though. (Did I mention I need to be out the door in thirty minutes?)

The sky came out this week, just in time for Independence Day. The sun came too, but it was the robin's egg blue that really got me. Usually, I only see patches of it through clumps of clouds the color of dirty snow. Recently, however, the whole sky feels so open and wide. It stretches to the horizons I've forgotten. Suddenly, the mountain ranges on every side seem closer than I remember. The green of trees really pop under the blue (or over it, when you're by the water).

Yesterday evening, super-husband and I took a walk down to the beach. He prepared a feast of a picnic, which far surpasses the sorry excuse for a dinner I usually whip up on busy nights. He told me I needed to breathe. I hadn't even realized I was holding my breath! But I was. And it costs not only me, but those around me. You know that feeling? Feeling the pressure build, like you're a can of soda (or pop, for my West/Midwest friends) being shaken up. Not pretty when that thing explodes!

So I breathed. I realize how often my words, both spoken and written, often revolve around the hard things—storms and rough waters. Sometimes that's when you need words most. But what about when the sky is out? And it's so blue, you can't quite match it to anything else in the world? I'm ready to talk about those things more. I need to! It's more like the fizzy bubbles of ginger ale rising in me than a "carbonation explosion."

I was blessed to see seven old friends in the past three weeks. It made me so happy to see each of them growing where they've been planted, and thriving! They're not the same people they were in college. Neither am I! I love who they were and who they've become. We had such fun—enjoying long chats together, road trippin', celebrating a wedding, and exploring new places around Seattle I hadn't even seen yet! Each experience with each different group was like a beautiful sunny day, regardless of the weather. (Sorry, friends who got to see the "real" Pacific Northwest. You missed summer by a day.) They were my blue sky!

Our new(er) friends here are my blue sky, too. Each one adds so much to our life here that it's hard to imagine it without them. And isn't it ironic, and rather appropriate, that our home church is called "Blue Sky Church"? I love that! God's grace is the source of all my blue skies in life. Wouldn't exist without Him! And I'm so excited to see what other blue skies He will reveal to us this summer.

Ready. Set. GO! Super-husband and I are anticipating an excellent season of blue sky (both literal and metaphorical). He finished yet another exam recently, and that means more time to go adventuring (my favorite!) and stay-cationing (equally relaxing as vacationing, in my book). Next up, a road trip along the Oregon coast. Super-husband says I need to get to know my home better, and that includes our neighboring state. What are you going to do under the blue sky this summer? I really want to know!