Living un-complicated
Pool days and popsicles
When you have moved a million times, there is no greater joy than landing in a community with a pool for the summer. (Jackpot!)
Even in the chilly Ohio breeze, the babies have been fish. Jumping, splashing, goggles on and off, life jackets on and off, deep end, shallow end, twirls and wet curls, all ending with a towel wrapped around their shivery bodies.
They lay on the concrete, the warmth seeping into their bones. Every few minutes, they get up and walk a few steps to another dry spot and lie back down.
My days have been un-complicated recently, but still my heart races with the anxiety of living this complicated life with grace and gusto.
I want to feel life more simply. I want to clear cobwebs by the minute. I want the grace and peace of the Lord to overcome my weakened heart.
My girls come to me all day, asking for snacks and “Can we eat the candy we got at the parade?”
It’s fun to say yes, to eat popsicles and watch them run around with the neighborhood kids. Everything is pretty simple for them. I live vicariously through them, stealing their joy and smiling through summer. I don’t want them to feel my complicated adult feelings.
Let’s be free.
My assistant Andrea worked so hard on a reel about STRING CHEESE, and the way it turned out makes my heart so happy.
All my best,
Book Therapy Podcast: Encouraging Foster and Adoptive Families one book at a time
Nothing Wasted: Struggling Well through Difficult Seasons in paperback and audio
Foster Mama Friend Instagram
Love Beyond Blood Notebooks and stickers
This brought up a whole scene I know well. I’ve got four grandkids, 6 through 12, and the pool at the apartment, where we stay during the summers, looks exactly like you described — goggles everywhere, kids inventing games on the spot, running back for snacks, then jumping right back in like they never left. They do that thing where they lie on the warm concrete to “dry off,” then immediately get soaked again. It’s chaos, but it’s the kind that makes me smile.
What you wrote about wanting life to feel simpler hit me. Being around kids does that — they’re fully in the moment, no overthinking, no adult weight on their shoulders. When I’m with my grandkids at the pool, I get a little of that back. It’s a reminder that joy doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes it’s popsicles, splashing, and a towel wrapped around a shivering kid who’s already planning their next jump.