Ah, my sweet friends. Does anyone else feel like they ended May with their hair on fire? Whew! I don’t know about you, but my family and I are so thankful summer is here.
I have two words for how I felt as the end of school approached – burned out. The funniest and most accurate description of what happens to moms at the end of each school year was written by Jen Hatmaker a couple years ago. The post is entitled “Worst End of School Year Mom Ever.” If you aren’t familiar with Jen Hatmaker or you haven’t read the post I’m referring to, please check it out here. You’ll laugh out loud and perhaps feel instant camaraderie with other moms who are dragging themselves (and their kid) across the finish line of school.
All year long, we’ve studied days in advance for tests, checked homework every night and ensured our nightly reading was done. After we came back from spring break, advanced studying meant the night before a test. My hubby and I regularly farkled (you know–rock, paper, scissors) for who was actually going to check the kids’ homework. Yes, I admit it. I cheated. Regularly. Uniforms tops, which we had in abundance at the beginning of the year, disappeared into one of two black holes we have in our house. One of the black holes is found in Princess A’s room, and the other in Princess B’s. Also into the black abyss went uniform bottoms and belts. Alas, after spring break…we just didn’t care.
Princess B’s shirts were barely long enough to tuck into her pants. When she complained in the mornings, we reassured her that summer was coming soon. Thank you, sweet Lord. It’s here!
For the last two weeks, my girls and I have disconnected the alarm, reacquainted ourselves with our pool bag and stocked up on summer books — none of which we hope will make us smarter. No judging.
Yessiree, summer is in full swing. One of the few commitments I keep during the summer months is my Girls of Grace Ministries’ (GOGM) Summer Bible study for moms and tween girls. Y’all! Talk about amazing!
I’ve done some serious soul searching since last fall and knew God was calling me to lay down certain commitments so I could more fully focus on my family and growing GOGM. You may remember that’s my word for 2014–growth. Ack! I feel uncomfortable just typing the word. Yet, I was obedient. I laid down some pretty time-intensive commitments that mean a lot to me–missions and organizations that I have invested literally hundreds of hours because I so passionately believe in what they are doing. Laying them down was tough, but it was also freeing, folks. God wasn’t silent about my obedience either.
Guess what, friends? The GOGM summer study sold out. Twice. We have 65 moms and tween girls coming together each week this summer because they are on fire for God and want to spend time together in the name of the Lord. How unbelievably cool is that? It’s three times the size of our last study. That’s growth, people!
As I was driving home from tonight’s class, I just smiled and kept glancing at Princess B in the backseat who smiled back at me. I thought of the laughter that poured out of these moms and daughters tonight. They connected. They laughed. They praised God. It was awesome.
Yes, I was tired at the end of school. My kids were tired. I mean, really. Who isn’t? But being with these moms and daughters over the last couple of weeks has really reignited my passion. There is a need for this ministry. Who am I that God would call me to serve him in this way? I don’t know, friends. I’m so glad he has, though.
There are so many wonderful things on the horizon for GOGM, and I can’t wait to share them all with you. Stay tuned, friends. In the meantime, I would cherish your prayers as the GOGM leadership team continues to work diligently on new components for this ministry. Exciting things to come…
