While summer break is ending in the US, it's only just half way over in St Kitts. I can't quite wrap my head around the "1st day of school" photos that have been on my Facebook feed today. Or summer for that matter, or fall, or winter, or spring. Gone are all my typical seasonal markers that helped me know how time was passing. Is "more hot" a season? I think it is here.   Our kids are getting an extra long summer. With our first guest arriving June 7th, we finished school just in time on June 6th. Then we have spent the summer enjoying one visitor or preparing for another. We love visitors! But they also make for a schedule-free week, or in this case, 5 weeks. With two kids who thrive on routine (don't all kids?), we were soon met with cries of, "We don't want to go back to the beach!" or, "Can't we just stay home?" I felt bad for Aaron's parents, our last visitors, because we had hit a wall before their time on t...

  The Good List is a phrase I've seen a lot lately. It's a popular way to list all that someone is thankful for, focusing on the positive rather than the hard or the negative. It's also very biblical to give thanks And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Col. 3:17 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 1 Chron. 16:34   Sometimes our circumstances don't leave us feeling full of thanks, but: give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thess. 5:18   Sometimes worry and anxiety eclipse all the good things and the good work God is doing. Sometimes we have to choose to thank God when we feel like we want to yell or scream or do anything  except say thank you. I know Philippians 4:6 by heart. I even have it painted on a wooden board and sitting on my dresser.   Back in March, when we wer...