Sane, Simple, Sacred: This Solitary Summer

This Solitary Summer

Last night after dinner, when we were in the garden, I said, "I want to be alone for a whole summer, and get to the very dregs of life. I want to be as idle as I can, so that my soul may have time to grow. Nobody shall be invited to stay with me, and if any one calls they will be told that I am out, or away, or sick..."

This is MY kind of book! Actually, it is the third I've read by Elizabeth von Arnim since finding out about her a month or so ago. The last, Mr. Skeffington, was witty and wonderful--about a woman coming to grips with her 50th birthday.

The opening lines of THIS one are particularly intriguing to me. Only yesterday I posted this quote and my comment on Facebook: "We don't need to retire to the desert to meet with God. He can come to us at our ordinary duties." (A. Bonar) This is comforting to me. I was disappointed when I needed to cancel a plan to spend several days at Gethsemane Monastery in KY next week..... Looking forward to seeing how "He will come to me".

I AM looking forward to seeing how God will come to me in my ordinary duties -- next week, definitely. And throughout the entire summer--This Solitary Summer. I did SO want to spend the days at Gethsemane. (It would have been my second stay there.) I even had a "secret" agenda; a reading and prayer plan. My soul was thirsty. Well, it will not happen as I expected, but I WILL be refreshed. He promised me uniquely last night!

...the "promise" seen from our back yard

11 comments:

Janettessage.blogspot.comJune 3, 2012 at 8:53 AM
Oh the quote at the beginning just says what I have felt for some time, and yet, Him meeting me in the everyday is the truth. I keep thinking that if I could get away to a cabin and regroup I would know what to do, but there isn't money for that and I have the responsibilities of two children. God knows that, so I will watch how He is going to meet me this summer...in the daily acts of life.

Thanks..I am going to look for these books.
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EileenJune 3, 2012 at 9:32 AM
Beautiful post! And, as much as I'd love to spend a solitary Summer, I was more comforted by your words of "He will come to me" in my ordinary duties.
And, in this busy time of my life right now, I do find that He comes to me, and I am so grateful.

So sorry you were disappointed about your plans having to be cancelled, but I love your trusting attitude!
God Bless!
Love and Prayers,
Eileen
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BookieJune 3, 2012 at 9:48 AM
I have been wanting to check out your recommendations on this author but this book really got my attention this morning. Couldn't wait for right time...So I finally looked up the author on amazon trying to find a used book. Found the Kindle edition is FREE! Though I have many books, both real and Kindle, ahead, I now have this in the queue for summer! Thanks.
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SandyJune 3, 2012 at 2:13 PM
This sounds like a great book. I absolutely love that God does come and speak to me most when I am just doing ordinary day-to-day things, mostly housework. Then, upon hearing His word to me, I am refreshed and renewed and suddenly the ordinary becomes extraordinary!
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MoJune 3, 2012 at 7:49 PM
I think I'm fixing to have to come to grips with being 54......
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TamaraJune 3, 2012 at 11:33 PM
Love the picture with the rainbow. It appears to be intersecting with the cross... ok, ok... it's a telephone pole, but...
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RebeccaJune 4, 2012 at 5:25 AM
Tamara, You're RIGHT! Why didn't I see that?
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AnonymousJune 17, 2012 at 9:50 AM
I am intrigued by these books you are reading...I think I am going to ILL from my local library and enjoy them ;)

m.
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AnonymousJune 17, 2012 at 9:53 AM
I had to make a conscious effort to allow HIM to meet me everywhere I was. Great quote :)

m.
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"We simplify, not just to be less busy, even though we may be right to pursue that. Rather, we simplify to remove distractions from our pursuit of Christ. We prune activities from our lives, not only to get organized, but also that our devotion to Christ and service for His kingdom will be more fruitful. We simplify, not merely to save time, but to eliminate hindrances to the time we devote to knowing Christ. All the reasons we simplify should eventually lead us to Jesus Christ!" (Donald S. Whitney)

Dedicated to my sister-in-law, Beth--a TRUE home manager....

"I work for a King. He has put me in charge of his home. When He comes to see how I have managed His possessions and His children, I do not want to be found wanting. I want to do my best. Everything I have is on loan from Him. I have room and board and a job to do, but it is all for Him. Therefore I want to dress my best and do my best in all my work. I also want to be creative, for this is a sincere attempt to glorify Him and His beautiful creation. How I manage my home is a form of worship to Him." --Lydia Sherman

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry,
and see a fine picture every day of his life,
in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Contentment makes poor men rich.

-Benjamin Franklin

"What I am gradually discovering is that in the writing I come in touch with the Spirit of God." ~ Nouwen

~~"Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting."~~Edmund Burke

C.S. Lewis: "To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in trusting a person if you wouldn't take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him."

"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common--this is my symphony." William Henry Channing

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Apostle Paul: "But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

"It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. It stops us from taking anything for granted. It has also taught me alot about living in the immediate moment. I am somehow managing to live one day, one hour at a time." Madeleine L'Engle

FIVE CERTAINTIES
WITH WHICH TO
START YOUR DAY

God holds you. Each day he carries us in his arms. Psalm 68:19 NLT
God sustains you. THE LORD is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. Psalm 23:1 AMP
God covers you. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust. Psalm 91:4 AMP
God pours His love upon you. Through each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me. Psalm 42:8 NLT
God will not fail you. The unfailing love of the Lord never ends! Lamentations 3:22 NLT

THE BLOGGER'S PRAYER Lord, help me to learn to spell without spellcheck, manage to visit all that visit me, and post regularly - all in 5 minutes a day, so that I can clean house and take care of my family. Help me to not look at every occurrence in my life as a blog post, and to quit taking pictures of weird things to share as well. Please Lord, help me to stop talking about my blog friends as though they are next door neighbors or someone I have known all of my life. And help me, dear Lord, to think of something witty and wise to post tomorrow.
Love, The Dust Bunny Hostage

Sane, Simple, Sacred

Mercy

This Solitary Summer

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