summer days are gone, too soon

"You shoot the moon, and miss completely."

That's one of my favorite Norah Jones songs.  Summer really does go by so quickly, no matter if your children are in school or not, the beach is always crowded and the traffic is continuous no matter how we plan our time around it.  Even though our children are still young, I can't help but get teary eyed every time I see a parent on my facebook or instagram feed post a photo of their child starting their first day of school with those big gap-toothed "do you really have to take another picture mom" grins.

During our morning exercise, we love watching the happy families on vacation with huge beach bags and even bigger smiles because no one is checking their email.  It truly makes us appreciate the beauty of where we live.  The days are still quite hot here, but the future of next summer holds for probably even hotter days.

  

Sometimes though, we stay at home.  We clean and do laundry and then make strawberry lemon water and muffins and enjoy them right on the grass of our condo building.  We play music under the sun and appreciate life just as it is.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to live in one of the most beautiful places on Earth to live and believe that you were destined for a beautiful life, you know? 

Exactly a month from now, we will be boarding our flight and closing this chapter of our life in Hawaii, but opening up another one in the great natural state of Arkansas.  I know, you're probably thinking, Arkansas?!  I won't try to convince you of how beautiful Arkansas truly is, maybe you will just have to come and see for yourself.  My love and I were both living there when we met and fell in love and that's honestly enough reason for me to list it one of the most beautiful and special places in my heart.  My husband got an amazing career opportunity and we are really excited about being a little bit closer to our family for so many reasons, some of which I will tell you about pretty soon when the time is right.  For such a huge and scary move across the ocean with two small children, God made it so easy for us, and we know that this is the plan that He has laid out for us so we are following..."for we live by faith and not by sight."  2 Corinthians 5:7.

In photography, there is this saying that light is always more important than location.  That spoke to me so much because it just couldn't be more true.  Many times, the most spectacular photographs come from the most uncanny of places, because it's all about the sun and how you use the light.  Well, it's also all about the light that you carry and shine within you, the light that Son gives us to share with the world, no matter where we are.  So don't get caught up with location, and always remember that it's always about the light.

Through all of this, we have had so many trials, and we continue to have them right now, as I'm typing this out, but it's all about perspective.  I truly believe that the day that we stopped living for ourselves, the day that we stopped constantly shooting for the moon and instead, living for Christ.  Well that's the day that we landed among the stars.