Dear Friend,

It is officially summer for our family. Caleb finished school on Monday and Hannah has been done for over a week. I always find these transition times to be relieving and stressful (which feels like a paradox that shouldn’t be possible, but there it is). I find it relieving because the stresses of the school year have passed and there is more freedom and space to breathe—fewer requirements and stressors. But I also find it stressful because we’re used to living into a particular routine and the loss of that causes all of us to feel a little off balance for a few weeks while we adjust to the new normal.

I was talking with someone today about how the spiritual life is similar. There are seasons when everything is going along and there might be stressors or blessings, but it is normal and you are used to it. And then all of the sudden, you realize that was working is no longer working—however you were praying or connecting with God no longer seems to be life-giving—and there is in-between time when you both have to let go of what you’ve known and look forward to what might yet be. And, those times can be both stressful and relieving.

I wonder how you manage the in-between times in your life, whether it is your family life, your spiritual life, or something else altogether.

Blessings,
Pastor Sarah

Righting the Pyramid

by Mark Sundby

I found this short article to be a helpful reminder. We can’t change the state of the world, but we can shift the composition of our days and lives.

“Dr. Doherty’s observation is that our pyramid of resources and concerns is too often flipped for many of us. We’re balancing our lives on the point of too few resources, such as health practices (sleep, nutrition, exercise, etc.), and the weight of the world has become the broad part of the pyramid balancing precariously over it. What if we flipped it?”

Read the full article here.

Fredrik Backman on Creative Anxiety and Procrastination

Simon & Schuster

This isn’t a commencement address (it’s much shorter), but I quite like Fredrik Backman’s books and his address in this video is equally enjoyable.

Teens Surprise Math World with Pythagorean Theorem Trigonometry Proof

60 Minutes

I know enough math to know the pythagorean theorem (still! after all of these years of never having needed to know it), but not enough math to have known that it was believed there was only one proof for it. I love this video because it reminds me that there is still so much more to know and to be discovered. And, I love that both young women are pursuing fields other than math!

Peace To Those Who Need a Little Help Today