I have 29 days before school starts again. And would you believe it … I actually told my mom today that I wish school would hurry up and get here sooner. I need my routine back – and my kids to love back.

However … I also know that these last lingering days of summer are such a gift, and before I know it, I’ll be wishing for them back again. These are the days when I can get my apartment & classroom organized, when I can get the year mapped out, when I can make plans so that hopefully my school year will be a little more organized and less stressful. These are the days when I can spontaneously say yes to last-minute plans because I don’t have a booked-up schedule. These are the days when I can work on my creative little projects and not feel guilty that I’m avoiding grading. And these are the days to build relationships because I have so much more open time.

I need to be grateful for these opportunities, but more than anything, I need to remember what is always hard for me to do – to celebrate the beauty of the now. Stop looking back or looking ahead and simply be thankful for the gifts in this very moment. These gifts of summer are a treasure, and if I move too quickly, I will overlook them and be dissatisfied.

To remind myself of this, I’ve committed to hunting down “August Delights” daily and taking a picture of them. I think sometimes we can “over-document” our lives, but this is more about slowing down and noticing – tracing the finger of the Divine in all the moments I want to skip over or rush forward. God created them, and I must learn to be thankful for them all. I am a slow learner and must repeat this lesson often, but hopefully this little challenge will help to ingrain it more deeply into my mind.

Here’s to hoping that you find just as many treasures in this last month of summer.

“Holy joy lies in the habit of murmuring thanks to God for the smallest of graces.” ~Ann Voskamp