At the beginning of summer, I placed the pillow on our couch. It read Endless Summer. It seemed magical and hopeful then. What a beautiful idea, an endless, restful and relaxing summer. Now, it is still there, but it seems more like a curse. In our part of Texas, we’ve had record unrelenting heat this summer and no rain (no rain!) in over two months now. It is beating us all down and now my formerly hopeful pillow is laughing at me in an evil way.
One of the contractors who helped build our new home, a true tough Texan who works mostly outside, a man of few words, told us yesterday, “I don’t know how much more we can take, mentally.” He’s right. It is wearing on us all. It is the reason I think my pillow is actually laughing an evil laugh at me.
Sunday, the temperature here was 112 with high humidity and a south wind. It was a record high in the 140 years they have been keeping records. A couple of days later, I was driving and thought the trees looked like they were turning rust color and some yellow leaves were blowing across the windshield. A hint of fall? No, more like fried tree death and dryness.
Every day, we all look longingly at our weather apps to see when the cooler air might come or even just a puff of air under 100 degrees. It is a useless exercise because the above 100 dry days just stretch on as far as that app will take us.
Have you ever found yourself in an uncomfortable waiting season? Waiting on the weather to change? The job offer to come? Your loved one to act differently? The doctor to call? The grief to let up for even a moment?
Sometimes you are waiting for other things, your due date, your wedding, the soldier to return home, the vote to be taken, the financing to come in…the college to say yes.
What do you do when you are in an endless summer (and not it a good way)?
You go back to the basics. You hold on in the hard. You practice sacred self-care. A new book I’m reading is reminding me that self-care is simply being a good steward of what God has given us. The author says to care for ourselves, even in rough seasons, especially in rough seasons, can be counter-cultural, an act of resistance in a world that thinks we have to keep on keeping on and keep on performing. Sometimes our self-care can actually reverse the generations of trauma we may have endured. (Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes)
Are you in an endless summer? Are you in a dry, crunchy, unrelentingly hot and unforgiving season? Does it feel unbearable, uncomfortable or as if you can’t take much more?
Look up. Hold on. Care for yourself. Connect to God. Reach out to others.
I’m sure I’ve written about this before but my Mom always says, about this point in the Texas summers, that a good rainstorm will “break the back of summer.” It seemed kind of like an old wives tale. Now that I’m an old wife, I believe this stuff.
Look up, friends. Scan the skies with faith. Watch the clouds carefully. A good storm is coming. Our endless summer is almost done. Hold on.
Dr. Cindy Ryan is a pastor, wife, mother of three, breast cancer survivor and Mosa to Keller, Pace, River and one on the way. To read more of her blogs, see upcoming speaking events or to sign up for Cindy’s Inner Circle monthly email, go to http://www.drcindyryanblog.com. The next Inner Circle issue will arrive in your inboxes on September 1.
drcindyryanblog.com 
Inspiring as always. Just what we needed during this endless summer
Oh my goodness, you certainly have it right. This endless and brutal summer is wearing on all of us Texans. But, as you say, this too shall pass. I do feel for the trees that are turning brown from the heat and lack of rain. Wish I could give them all a drink.
I am re-reading your blog about your big move toward downsizing. Gary and I are looking at the same thing in the next couple of years. I would love some advice from you about your experience and how we might manage that? It does seem daunting. Thanks, Cindy.