Are You Already “Oversummered” and It Isn’t Even the Fourth Yet?

Dear Reader:

To “oversummer” means to survive summer. Since May was the hottest “spring” month we ever had on record…it feels like summer has been here forever!

Our new “old” summer wardrobe looks as wilted as we feel…since most low country residents are trying to live in t-shirts, cut-offs, and light weight skirts…bought  new at Easter…looking worn and torn already with the Fourth of July approaching.

Even the birds seem to have lost their appetite since I bought my bench to look at them….suddenly they have disappeared. (Maybe they don’t like people staring at them while they eat. 🙂 When they do approach they look like they are posing on the perch rather than nibbling at the food. Sometimes from inside the house looking out the window…it looks like a painting with Sammy playing king of the roost.

 

A neighbor on the next block told me she lucked up and found a redbird bench at Lowes…it had to be put together but she had a handyman who did it for her….I told her Sammy the Cardinal might desert me and fly down to her house to see the red bench in his honor. (Of course she might, then, discover his ‘calling card’ left behind…always check the bench before sitting!)

An unexpected thunder storm rolled in around supper time-delightful…while I was sitting on my bench….the lightning got strong…so I jumped up and ran back in the house…but as I was typing this post…I looked out the window and noticed a few small chickadees had returned to the suet cage…They would sit on the the azalea branches over looking the cage…enjoying the rain.

The last few summers we have had extraordinarily hot weather in direct correlation with dwindling rain….to the point that we start playing “games” with God in prayer…saying things like ‘Please send us a tropical storm, not a hurricane, and don’t let there be strong winds associated with it… that do property damage but just bring us storms that dump a lot of rain….okay God?”

The brilliant C.S. Lewis described this typical mortal “Russian roulette” game we humans play with God…in this famous quote:

We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” C.S. Lewis

What a keen observation lying under all our layers of faith…the seed of doubt concerning the pain and sometimes  daunting challenges facing us as we await God’s help delivering the “best” for us.

We know in the end things will turn out for the best…just the way they are supposed to…the problem is getting to the end with as little discomfort as possible.

The sincerest, most courageous prayer we humans can implore is to ask for God’s best help (in any critical situation) while never forgetting to add an important “BUT”…”Not my will but Yours be done, God.”

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Only the strong survive…and here they are….

Family Quiz: What does Eloise have this year that she didn’t have last fourth of July?   A: HAIR

 

 

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”
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4 Responses to Are You Already “Oversummered” and It Isn’t Even the Fourth Yet?

  1. bcparkison says:

    God’s best for us…kinda like he supplies all our needs. I have always found this funny in a funny way because clearly I don’t ‘need’ as much as some people.LOL….. Contentment is the goal both in plenty and in want.
    Chick-a-dees are my fave and I haven’t seen any in along time. Not sure where all of the birds have gone but they aren’t here. I do catch a glimpse of a Indigo every now and then and he is just outstandingly blue. Indigo Blue!
    I wonder if Fall will come in as early as Summer did?

    • Becky Dingle says:

      Unfortunately…with the new weather patterns….no…what is the old.joke…”most likely but not hardly”…might best sum up the chances of an early Fall…we are just getting longer and longer periods of warm/hot weather in correlation to cold/cold weather. The times…they are a’changing!

  2. That last part on knowing things will turn out as they should was for me. As people come to look at our house that is on sell and no offers come, I feel so discouraged. We didn’t make some repairs and so I think that has made the house unsuitable for so many buyers. I know that God is in control, yet the discomfort of not knowing from day to day, and so many not interested feedback leave me fearful. Of course, we can always remain here, so it would not be the end of the world if it doesn’t sell. So, thanks for reminding me that God knows what we need. I will do my best to be patient. It has been oonly ne week, but probably 15 people.

    • Becky Dingle says:

      I know exactly what you mean…I have a couple of major renovations that would need to be done before I could get top dollar…but then I don’t want to put this type of money in it…only to have a buyer completely renovate once they get it anyway…and you watch those hard earned dollars going down the sink literally…could have saved all that money…it is a hard call…and one best left in God’s Hands. .

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